The half empty. half full dichotomy!

Or why is the grass greener on the other side of the fence? Always, but always, what we don't have sounds so much better. We grow up wanting what our friends have and then miss out on what we do have.
Example: When I was growing up (my college years) my parents were arguably the most liberal in terms of who I mixed with and where I went. But I was always cribbing that my friends had more pocket money, more clothes etc, etc. What I did have was a curfew which I considered quite unreasonable, so I failed to notice that I was surrounded by girls who had NO curfew but then, they weren't even supposed to be out, leave alone mixing with guys!
By and large I never had to lie to my parents about where I was going(except once and that was a sin of omission rather than commission and I was gated for two months for that at the BEGINNING of the summer hols!) But most of my pals, they were supposed to be at a girl friends house (mine generally) when they were out with their boy friends!!!
I didn't have to go to such lengths but did I appreciate it? No way!
Then I grew up and went away. Left home for the wild, wild world outside much against my father's wishes. I wanted the freedom, the liberty and the license to do my thing. I did my thing but also had to do without food - no breakfast and lunch most days and dinner only when I was asked out, no warm clothes (Delhi winter), no bed or any other furniture. Why? Lack of financial resources - no Father to pick up the bills, no Mom cooking food to die for!
And right through my life the grass has been greener on the other side. This is supposed to be an incentive to improve and progress... but I am not sure about that. I went to the UK - and then gave up a job there to come back to India. I married twice and then opted out of both - and while I "earned" independence of thought and action, I also sacrificed on companionship and support.
I landed up in New York and London but returned to India because I was going nowhere professionally. Here I am in India, quite happy with my professional progress (after all the movers and shakers in advertising think I am amongst the walking dead as I am NOT under 35!) but totally frustrated by a country where day to day living is a battle for survival and existence, where the minimum standards that make life bearable are not just missing but well nigh unachievable in the foreseeable future.
Everyday I wake up feeling that another day of mayhem and madness will send me around the bend - that I should instantly catch the first flight back to London.
But will I be exchanging one set of problems for another? Should life have taught me not to keep wanting what I don't have? Shouldn't I look at the bottle and consider it half full instead of half empty? Who is happier? The person who is always wanting? Or the person who is happy with whatever he or she has got? Better, wiser, greater men than I have debated this question and have failed to find an answer. Who am I to try?