Sorry man, I apparently jumped to conclusions thinking you were -- well, that you were saying something you apparently weren't. I agree, being grateful is a very effective way to maintain perspective. I've even seen studies that say so.Interestingly, depressed people are much more likely to have a realistic view of the world and their prospects. The ones who are delusional and let themselves think they'll win the lottery someday or something like that tend to rate their life with much high satisfaction levels when asked (really bad example, but you hopefully see what I mean). In my opinion, "the secret," is that it isn't just their happiness and outlook that changes. Their expectations for what will happen changes.The people who expect good things to happen and sincerely believe that they can make them happen are much, much more likely to accomplish their goals. There is power in believing you can change the world. Even if you can't, just believing you can makes it much more likely that you ever will. Most people don't seem to realize that.