The media World is creating a big gap between expectations and reality. In the media World, everyone is handsome, rich, happy and living the drea.

Every day, you are exposed to thousands of ads showing you all these happy people.

Not surprisingly you connect happiness with buying new things. And you figure out that shopping does not really bring long-term happiness.

If you sit on the subway anywhere in the World, you see that the media World is far from reality.

Beautiful people are not that common. People have life scars and bruises on their faces. People seem sad and depressed. It is no paradise. It is a fight.

Accepting reality is not easy. Everybody wants to live like a Hollywood star, but only one out of million is that lucky. And not all movie superstars are really happy.

Money, fame and looks can help live a quality life in a great way, but they do not bring happiness.

But hoping and expecting that you will live the life of a Hollywood star by posting a few photos on social media is a recipe for a happiness disaster.

It is the same as if you expect that just Love will do all the hard relationship work instead of you or that you will have a six-pack by going to the gym once in a while.

Everything you want to have in life, you have to work hard for. And many times you do not even get it. Some things are not even accessible to you at all.

In some life areas, you are better off, in others you are far behind the average, depending on your genes, smarts, inheritance etc.

Life is not fair and you have to play with the cards you were dealt. If you do not accept that, you will always be unhappy.

If you will live in a naïve illusion of how the World should be and that you may get lucky someday, you will definitely be unhappy.

To be really happy, you have to accept the reality of life.

Instead of accepting that you have to work hard for years to get a good-looking body, to find the work you enjoy, a person who is your perfect fit, you simply give up and go where life kicks you.

And usually that is not any place nice. If you are not going forward, you are going backwards. If you are going backwards, your unhappiness slowly rises.

It is a tricky situation again. You have to narrow the gap between your expectations and what is really achievable in life from your starting point.

At the same time, you must not lower your standards and make sure you keep the growth mindset. Not going forward means a disaster in life sooner or later, and disasters are nothing but a big pile of unhappiness.

Here is what you should do to be happy in life, but even if you do it, it is not a guarantee that you will really be happy. Probably not.

• Be aware that you are the only one responsible for your happiness
• Accept reality as it is
• Do not live in a naive fictional World
• Lots of socializing and Love
• No unhealthy people in your life
• Do meaningful work
• Practice gratefulness
• Focus on what you have in life, not what you lack
• Material things and shopping will not bring happiness
• Be as healthy as possible with regular exercise
• Make sure you go forward in life with the growth mindset

All of this, and yet happiness is still not guaranteed. Seems that everything is hopeless.