Course 1:  Gratitude—Acres of Diamonds is a wonderful story of appreciation and gratitude.  Show appreciation for where you are right now and gratitude for what you have in your life at this moment.  Daily thoughts of gratitude and acknowledgement for the gifts you have right NOW make your life better.  They also help you understand that you are pursuing happiness in the way that you intended to in your life; or in the alternative, what you must choose to do to get on track.  Enjoy “No Place” by Rufus Du Sol: https://soundcloud.com/rufusdusol/noplace

Course 2:  Wisdom & Faith—Life improves when we seek wisdom and have faith in what we’ve learned over time. Answers to big questions are found in faith when reason doesn’t seem to provide any solace.  People who have faithful beliefs in something bigger are nearly always happier people.  If crises and life’s issues cause more people to turn to faith and to seek wisdom beyond their conscious minds, only positive long term results are on the horizon.  Time spent in seeking wisdom and enhancing faith is time well spent.  Enjoy Ralph Stanley’s “Palms of Victory” and contemplate faith: https://soundcloud.com/ralph-stanley-official/palms-of-victory

Course 3:  Sound Body—You will never develop peace of mind until you have a sound body.  A sound body means BOTH free from disease and proper fitness.  There is no path to happiness without health.  When one’s mind is constantly occupied by illness there is little room for anything else.  The same applies to your fitness even though it is not so front and center at each moment.  Trousers that become too tight, huffing and puffing at the top of the stairs or sooner, seeing many chins in the mirror are all ways that we are more subtly reminded that our bodies are not sound,  Choose to become fit and healthy.  There is no equipment needed, no gym membership required and no additional time to find in the day.  Stop watching t.v., put down the phone, and get moving.  Walk, run, do push-ups, whatever it takes for whatever level you’re at—it’s time.  There are no excuses or alibis, only choices!  Contemplate over Alice in Chains’ “No Excuses”

Course 4:  Learning—Start learning something of value and be happier.  The education system, especially at the collegiate level and higher, is failing to teach anything valuable.  Find the wisdom yourself in the vast array of technology and resources now available.  There has never been a better time to learn because everything is at our fingertips.  Read anything form the classics to starting an on-line business, but for God’s sake, do not seek any kind of meaningless degree if you’re looking for happiness.  The happy don’t teach at universities; they pollute.  Cast aside schools and listen to Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in Wall, Part 2”