I would say that I am very happy and content, but my life has been far from easy in the traditional sense, although not a patch on what some poor people go through. I was once told that everyone is dealt a hand of cards, but how you play them is up to you.
I was repeatedly raped, beaten and abused when I was a teen, it took me a long time to get past it a d the severe PTSD it left me with. I then had two abusive partners. I had a bad accident, severely damaged my spinal chord and became paraplegic, only just after getting together with DH (who I had been friends with for years). DH nursed me through it all, and being paralysed from the waist down is messy, but he never once complained or made me feel like anything other than the most beautiful woman in the world.
Against the odds and against all medical opinion I did manage to learn to walk again, but I'm in chronic pain all the time and I have almost zero feeling in my legs, on bad days I have to walk with crutches. At the time I had my accident my two passions were semi-pro ballroom and latin dancing and event riding, both of which I had to give up. It was hard, I had always been very graceful but I am very clumsy now, it took a while for me to adjust, but it's a heck of an improvement on being told you'll never walk again.
We then suffered numerous pregnancy losses, had an extremely difficult pregnancy with DS, he and I both nearly died on the operating table, but all turned out fine and he's now a constantly cheery and bold little chap. We emigrated, and that made a huge difference to us, it meant that we could buy a ranch, we own the land as far as the eye can see and we've renovated the house. Life is very peaceful now.
Earlier this year I had another miscarriage, it came shortly before I was diagnosed with cancer which they aren't sure whether treatment and surgery will work on yet.
I know that a lot of people have it a whole lot worse, and I'm so grateful for what we have, I am genuinely happy and feel that I have a good life. I think it's in part about taking your victories where you can find them, even the small ones. For me, when DSs is asleep and DH is in the bath, I love sitting on the balcony off our bedroom with a blanket around me and a cup of tea, my dogs snuggled around my feet watching the sun go down on the horizon. Just that half an hour I treasure. Or watching DS run through the long grass giggling, and falling on his bum then giggling even more.
The other part I think is insulating yourself against as many of the bad things as you can, for example, we now have two Caucasian Ovcharkas, and I know they would take down anyone who tried to hurt any of us, despite the fact that they're enormous cuddle monsters with DH, DS and I. I am also training a horse to respond to hand and voice commands so that I can ride again. It will just be gentle trekking, but it's still more than I thought I'd ever do. Emigrating was the biggest thing though, completely different style and pace of life.