How to be Happy

Smile.  Go on, smile.  It really does have an instant effect on your mood.  Try laughing too and feel even better.

Relax.  Lighten up and don’t take life so seriously and you’re bound to enjoy it more.

Take the good with the bad.  Be realistic.  Nobody is happy all the time.  Accept everything that happens to you, good and bad, helps make you the person who you are.

Be thankful.  Count your blessings.  Don’t focus on what you haven’t got, instead turn your attention to what you do have.  Often we don’t notice the small things in life.  Look at your loved ones and be thankful that they are in your life.  Is the sun shining?  Did you have a nice lunch?  Did someone pay you a compliment?  Be thankful.

Make someone else happy.  Do a selfless good deed for another person.  It is amazing how, if you do good, it’s not long before you feel good.

Get rid of a nagging task.  If there’s a job you have been putting off, do it.  You will feel a real sense of accomplishment to finally cross it off your to-do list.

Schedule in some quality ‘you’ time.  Make sure you do at least one thing for you each day.  You deserve it.  Even if it’s just sitting down for five minutes with a cup of coffee and the newspaper.  It will really help to lift your mood.

Change the way you talk to yourself.  Try changing any negative thoughts you have around.  Instead of beating yourself up over things, balance out the bad with good. 

If all else fails, fake it ’til you make it.  Pretend to be happy and you never know, you might start believing it.

*Note: if you are really unhappy for a long period of time, or are suffering symptoms of depression and, consult your GP.