I took mindfulness class and practice meditation.
It did not change the unhappy things in my life but it does help me cope.
Practical tips from someone who has absolutely been there :
5 minute break every hour (it helps to drink lots of water!) and I would sit in the bathroom and practice mindful breathing (lots of apps for this). Breathe in, breathe out. Concentrate only on your breath
DH had a photo-thing made (shutterfly, etc) of happy pictures of all the people who love and support me. I kept it on my desk to remind me that I was more than this job and more than this horrible person over me saw me as.
Walking, or getting outside. Parking far away was practical for me, but maybe not for you. Dance in your house. Go out to eat more – do something to physically remind yourself that joy exists in you.
Crying in my car after work. Whatever works, I say.
As mentioned, remind yourself it’s just for the money. Wash your hands of the notion that you have power to influence decisions, and embrace the lack of responsibility. That is nearly impossible for principled employees, btw.
Stop thinking it’s you, or it will change because of something you do/do not do.
Limit the amount of time you talk about work. (also very very difficult when you are aggravated and emoralized for 8 hrs)
I also tried to list three good things about the day (but only once a week!)
Don’t give up looking for a job, not ever, 2.5 yrs and 26 applications later, I got out. It was not pretty, not pleasant, and still painful — but I am 100% sure it was what needed to be done. Once I was outside, I realized how much I was tellingg myself a “it’s not that bad” story to save my sanity. It was that bad.
You can do this.
try to remember bad bosses generally come from their own insecurities. im going through something similar where a new boss came in after a very knowledgeable guy who built the group left. New guy is just out of his element and trying to keep up without appearing weak and basically clueless. Ive been getting in good graces simply from knowing his achilles - and being helpful to feed him info so he doesn’t appear stupid. rest of my group fights him and gets micromanaged, which they despise and it just keeps things in a downward spiral. ive been fairly spared since ive helped him out. hes still killing morale but i dont think he will last.
Just like in any other relationship, realize that you are not going to change him. He is who he is and will continue to be just that. Hoping he will change will leave you constantly disappointed and angry. Realizing he will never change, no matter how smart you are or how hard you work, will allow you to start focusing your energy on coping, rather than improving the situation. Best wishes to you.
For Christians, I recommend reading Colossians 3:23. We are working for God, not for men. I know it won’t mean much to a lot of people, but it helped me when I was in a difficult job.
I second amandakayak advice. Like it or not, at the end of the day our job is always to make the boss look good. If he wins, you win. If he loses, you will all hang together (as someone used to say in my company). See if you can find some business class on conflict resolution. The skills they teach really work (I speak from experience). The premise is to find some common goals and work towards them. Don’t make it about you or him - make it about the job, and frame it in terms that you both agree upon. Once you identify the common goals, you can work together on the best way to achieve them (and yes, you would need to compromise since he is the boss). If you succeed in it, the conflict largely goes away. Also, find and learn some tips on “managing up” - think about it as part of your job description, as well as the skill that would help you succeed at your next job (it’s true!)
Also, remember that bad bosses usually spend much less time worrying and thinking about you, than you worry and think about them. Don’t give your boss this satisfaction - many things in your life are much more important than him. You cannot alway change your life circumstances, but you can change the way you think about them. Once you realize this, you instantly get the upper hand.
Another good point! One tip I read was to remember that you don’t want to allow anyone else to live in your head rent-free. 
Another thought is that if you’ve been trying to get another job for a year and it hasn’t worked, doing some skills training or finding out what you’re doing wrong that’s keeping you from getting those jobs might be helpful.
I don’t do voodoo to people who were not nice to me at work, but bad things have happened to them.
- 15 years ago I was given a new boss. He was a big guy and often tried to belittle me. He would take my work and pretend it was his, or he would purposely stop my project to make me look bad. I remember crying in the bathroom sometimes. Within few months after me moving out, his mother had passed away. He was so disliked by everyone that no one from work wanted to go to the funeral. Well, I ended up being one of 3 people who went. He was let go by end of the year.
- At that same company I had another boss who was extremely creepy. He would keep me after work for meetings and he would put his hand on my sometimes. He drove us completely crazy with his long meetings and lecturing us on how we weren’t doing our jobs right. He got sued by his ex-wife, and a contractor for race/sex discrimination. He was also let go in a short time.
- Few years ago a peer tried to oust me by telling lies about me to the HR. He was afraid I was going to take his job. By the time HR figured out what was going on, too much damage was done and it was better that I moved on. After I left, I found out his wife cheated on him, he lost his job, and was beaten up while on vacation. It was 4 years ago and this guy is still out of a job.
There are a lot of not so nice people out there, but I do think Karma does catch up with them sometimes. In all of my cases, the management did figure out at one point or another that those people were bad, but waiting it out were painful and debilitating.
I really appreciate everyone’s encouragement and good wishes.
@greenbutton thanks especially for your kind words – I kept a lit (electric) candle on my desk for awhile, as a hopeful sign, and I’ve also been wearing my engagement ring again as a love token…
You are welcome. I also had a bracelet I wore that had happy memories associated with it…tangible items were helpful.
I understand the comments, but I do want to push back a little against this notion that a miserable boss needs to be understood, or supported so they are successful-happy and therefore less awful. In my experience, this is neither true, nor particularly helpful advice. Some bosses are jerks, they are jerks in every circumstance, or they lack the fortitude to change. OP could well be Employee of the Year and the boss would remain unendurable. My former boss was under siege for many reasons, not all their fault. I knew and had empathy for that. I did my best to be useful. It didn’t make it a single.bit.easier. to work there and the Bad Behaviors continued unabated.
It’s hard enough to be miserable. We don’t need to inadvertantly imply – hey OP see things differently and it will be better. Not to derail the great suggestions, off my soapbox now
if the boss and you clash even if it is a one way street…it is possible you two are just not compatible and just like in a marriage you may need a “divorce” if it is a small company and I assume your boss is also the owner(?) I am not sure what you can do. you have to accept the boss flaws (micromanagement) and all or you need to bail.
Here’s my take. I own a small business. It is very expensive and very difficult to find good employees. In fact I almost feel like I’m the one over a barrel with a few really obnoxious ones.
I’m biding my time right now looking for someone to replace someone that my husband would love to go fire. We’re putting up with too much bs from one person right now.
Have you ever considered being honest with this person. I feel like blank when this happens. I feel like I need more direction with xyz. Or I know my job, it feels insulting when you try and dictate every decision.
They may not realize that they’re micromanaging, or that you care enough about your job that you aren’t going to drop the ball.
Still keep looking, but communication goes two ways.
IME, bad bosses know when they’re micromanaging, and they enjoy it. Bad bosses know how they make you feel when they do something specific, and they enjoy it. Pointing these things out to them won’t help; they’ll tell you it’s all your fault.
BTW, I’m still waiting for karma from my last horrific boss. She’s still there earning obscene amounts of money and I’m not, but at least I’m loving every aspect of my life right now, and she’s a lonely messed up old unattractive (in many ways) sad woman who lives alone but lies about having a boyfriend.
VeryHappy - do you want me to give you some voodoo power?
@fendrock Is it possible your boss doesn’t know his micromanaging drives you crazy? I bet he isn’t doing it deliberately to make you miserable. I would try if possible to confront the situation head on. The next time the micromanaging thing occurs, say something like, don’t you trust me to get it done right? You can do it in a lighthearted tone or a more serious way. Or suggest something to him like, you know if we divided and conquered we could get a lot more done. Or if you’re really brave, you can be super direct and say, when you do this, it makes me feel less valued/motivated/fill in the blank.
I do think you need to confront the problem. It won’t go away on its own.
Fwiw, I once had a boss who was a classic micro manager and disorganized to boot. But outside of that, she was a terrific person. I focused on things I could learn from her, and there were quite a few. And I tried semi successfully my divide and conquer strategy, which did help a bit.
@oldfort: Yes, please. PM me with it.
That is not always the case.
Isn’t wishing for bad karma to befall someone risking bad karma for oneself? 
It sounds like one thing that is frustrating you is that the boss is making decisions that you disagree with. When I’ve had projects where a boss or a client or the first chair on the team was micromanaging my work, and making decisions I disagreed with, I found it helpful to get in the mindset that what I am offering is recommendations, and it is the perogative of the person higher up on the chain to accept or reject the recommendation.
I provided my best recommendations and advocated for them to be implemented but ultimately got my head in a place where I was able to accept in those circumstances that I was not the one with the ultimate authority to make the decision. It was still frustrating but I found that framing it that way helped me to deal with the frustration. It felt easier to implement someone else’s decisions when I expressly told myself that I don’t have the authority to make this decision.
Of course, there are some circumstances in which you must NOT implement boneheaded decisions of someone else, such as when you are being asked to do something illegal, immoral, or dangerous, or something that will damage your reputation with your peers or others in your field outside your organization. Or, where the dictated course is so outside the norm that you would essentially be committing malpractice by going along with it. Hopefully, the boneheaded decisions you are dealing with don’t rise to that level.
It is really hard to give advice without knowing the specifics of the problem.
(I know you were joking, but anyway --) I think wishing for bad karma is a lot different that actively taking action to harm someone, which is what that Bad Boss did to me. Wishing for something is just a thought, not an action.