Mega Strategies to be Happier

Happiness is something that some of us have to work hard at and how to do it is a learnt skill. Finding strategies that can meet our emotional need of happiness has to become our top priority especially so we don’t go down into the depths of despair.  The importance of being happy each day is essential for our well being and our continued survival in life.  This article will give you some suggestions how you go about being happy.

Being Grateful changes our brains chemistry.

We can do simple things, like gratitude, which forces us to look at all the positive things in our life and making them daily habits can change our brains patterns.  Opening our eyes and mind to see the wonderful amazing universe we live in and giving thanks for people, places and events that have happened in our life.  Initially it can be extremely hard to be grateful for anything when we don’t feel happy, but with practice and persistence you will be able to do it.

It’s not happiness that brings us gratitude.  It’s gratitude that brings us Happiness. – Unknown

Neuroscience has shown that the persistent use of gratitude will alter your thoughts and the way we feel about life in general.  Continued gratitude can have a lasting effect as it changes the brains chemicals causing good endorphins that change your emotions and feelings that will run through your body contributing to an improved emotional well being.

The Gratitude Journal

A popular method of gratitude is writing a daily gratitude journal and the benefits of improved sleep, reduced symptoms of illness and increased happiness is a great motivation for journaling each night.

To get the best benefits from your journal, instead of writing a list of 5 things you are grateful for ie: I’m grateful for the air we breath, and just going through the motions of the gratitude, switch it up a notch and elaborate in details what it is your grateful for, make it personal and deep not a superficial fake list.  The quality of the gratitude is more superior to the quantity of things you write about.  Feel it in your heart when you write it, own the words you say.

Writing a Gratitude Letter

Writing Gratitude letters and thanking people is another way of doing gratitude.  Taking the time to tell the people in your life, how blessed you are to have them in your life and the wonderful lessons they have taught you, is a great way to shift your thoughts away from envy, resentment and toxic emotions to the relationships, be honest, be heartfelt, because this is for you, not them.  You don’t even have to send them to the people, but if you it will give others a lift but more importantly frees you from the unexpressed emotions and allows you to let go of the past and any negative feelings so you can move forward positively.

The Sun and Nature improves our moods

Another simple thing we can do to improve our mood is to taking time outside in the fresh air to just sit in the sun, getting some vitamin D onto our skin can make a huge difference, especially in winter when we often become Vitamin D deficient.

When the sun is shining I can do anything; no mountain is too high, no trouble too difficult to overcome. –  -Wilma Rudolph

Use all your senses, ask yourself what you can smell, hear, see and feel.  What is happening around us, what birds that are singing, what animals and ambient noise can you hear in the background, how is the sun feeling on your skin?  Thank nature for being so amazing, your awareness will make an amazing improvement to your emotions.

Turn up the Music

Music can be a real mood lifter.  Turn on the radio, spotify, youtube, put on some CD’s or get out the vinyl and play the music loud, sing and dance.  You can’t help smiling when you’re having fun blasting your favorite songs.

Go for a Walk

During lock-down we are allowed to exercise, so walk, walk, walk discover your local streets and look at the fabulous gardens in the surrounding houses.  Walking decreases stress and gets the heart pumping.

Vitamin & Mineral Boost

Fruit and Vegetables have healthy nutrients, make yourself a power booster smoothie and put good nutritional food into it, add in some nuts, greens and sweeten it with honey.  Your brain and body will love the nutrition and you will feel better for doing it.

Up until recently, [nutrition] has been the missing piece in mental health treatment   -Dr Leslie Korn

Join an interest Group

So many different organizations are now meeting online, there are so many more classes that you can join from all over the world, so no matter what the time, you will find someone somewhere in the world doing what you love.

Learn Something New

What have you always wanted to learn?  You will find lots of free or paid courses on every different topic if you google or search on Youtube.  Learning a new skill is a great way to expand the brain, it keeps the mind busy and gives you satisfaction.  When we come back to normal, you can then join local groups and meet new people, increasing your social network.

Connect with an old Friend

Go through your phone and connect with someone you haven’t spoken to for a long time.  Make a list of everyone you want to re-connect with and each day ring someone new.  They might be just as delighted to hear from you as you will be to connect with them.  We are all feeling isolated, so hearing from an old friend is a great distraction in our day. RU OK?

Listen to someone else.

Sometimes hearing what others say makes you realise that you are not the only one feeling like you do and what you are feeling is normal.  Listening to others puts things into perspective and helps you feel better about yourself.

Give someone a Gift

The gift can be as simple as a note saying you love someone, or a compliment on something someone else has done.  Sending someone a text saying something positive is a wonderful gift.  A friend dropped a bottle of wine on my doorstep the other day and I felt amazing, so grateful for the thought.  Simple things can mean the most to others because they know someone has thought about them and they feel loved and cared for.

De-clutter or organize something.

Getting rid of rubbish and organizing areas of your house that have been out of control is such a satisfying task, you will feel so good when you look at what you have achieved and feel lighter for all the things you have gotten rid of.

“Clutter is nothing more than postponed decisions”   –  -Barbara Hemphill

Focus on You

For some, turning the focus on themselves, in a positive way, takes a bit of practice. have a go at these..

Spoil and Reward Yourself

You deserve to feelgood, so do what ever will make you feel good.  Every year I buy myself a new leather handbag, I love bags and having a new good bag makes me happy.

Wear colored clothes

Try not to wear black as it is a depressive color, instead wear bright colors that make you feel uplifted or put on a bright scarf or jacket to change the look.  Different colours have different affects on your mood so embrace your favorite colour and wear it proudly, it will make you feel happy.

Pamper yourself regularly

Have a night where you pamper yourself, put on a face mask, soak your feet and paint your nails.  Some people love to have a bath and soaking in the tub is what makes them feel pampered, add some essential oils and rose petals.

Flowers

Pick a bunch of flowers to put on the table if that is your feel good thing, as it will make your heart smile when you look at them.

“Happiness is to hold flowers in both hands.”  – Japanese  Proverb

Do things differently

Change the way you do things and don’t be predictable, mixing things up keeps things interesting, it makes your brain work if you have to think of a different way of doing something.  Simply changing things like the way to drive somewhere, looking up different recipes rather than eating the same thing, or changing the order of how you do something will be interesting keeping your brain away from the pity-pit of despair.

Research your next Holiday

Knowing where you can holiday next, what you will see, knowing where you can stay, gives you direction and a sense of adventure for the future.  Researching what is available locally within Australia can be surprising with so many different options available.

Plan your time after lock-down

Make a list of the people you want to catch up with, local places you want to visit, courses you want to attend and things you want to do.  Plan out your diary and even pencil them into your future, give yourself something to look forward to in the future.

Read a book or subscribe to a magazine

Spend time indulging in reading something, allow your brain to go into fantasy land, or reading something you are inquisitive about or interested in whether it is your favorite blog, a great novel or a celeb gossip mag, but relaxing reading your particular passion will make you feel happy.

“I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book”  –  -J.K. Rowling

Decide to be positive

Everything we do in life is a choice and being positive is also a choice, so choose to be positive and decide you are going to change the way you think about things and your life.

A Happy Life after COVID-19

Life prior to COVID was different, we have no idea what the new life will look like when it all resumes.  We all seemed to be focused on external things in our lives and overseas travel, but this time in isolation has changed us all, we have all had to look within ourselves and pull out strengths we didn’t know we had.   Our priorities have changed and the simpler things in life have become more obviously important to us.  Connecting with others on a simpler level and looking after ourselves has had to become our priority.

Happiness helps us move through our lives. In challenging times – like COVID lockdowns – finding and trying forgotten and new strategies for happiness is essential. It only takes one new strategy to make a start. Which one of our suggestions takes your fancy?  Which one will you start with?