How to be Happy

Rule number one may cause you to stop reading in outrage, thinking you have been cheated. However, surprisingly, simply smiling can lift your spirits more than is imaginable for such minimal effort. Smiling feels terribly unnatural when you are unhappy, so you may have to force yourself for a few minutes. Soon you will find yourself smiling with a little less encouragement, until your thought processes begin to be more positive, giving you genuine reasons to smile naturally. Try it now: smile for at least a minute, keeping your mind open to the possibility that this method really does work.

Rule number two: eat happy food. This does not include chocolate, as although it will initially release chemicals in your brain to improve your mood, the crash afterwards will leave you feeling worse than before. Instead, there are a number of healthy foodstuffs that have been proven to increase happiness, such as: salmon, spinach, sunflower seeds, beans, sardines, blackberries, and skimmed milk. There are others, but these provide you with a good starting point. Don’t forget to eat every four or five hours or so, as this will keep your blood sugar levels up with your spirits. Little and often is the key!

Rule three: exercise. Not only will this keep you fit and healthy; it will keep you happy as well. Exercising releases endorphins into your blood stream, which boost your mood considerably. Even just a brisk walk down the street, or preferably somewhere green and peaceful, will help to pull you out of grey sadness and kick start the rest of your day.

Number four. If you can find somewhere as natural as possible, like the woods or a quiet beach or field, spend an hour or so just clearing your thoughts and worries to enjoy the life around you. Give yourself just a brief amount of time to ignore your problems and any plan of action you may be struggling with, to deal with the most basic emotions that are evoked by your immediate surroundings. Make sure you are warm, full, and awake. Once you have meditated in this way for some time, go back to your life with a clear head and put things in perspective.

Five: the serious one. Take a step back from your life. Visualise everything that makes you happy and complete. If a number of those things are missing, consider all the ways you can work to bring them back, or how you can begin to cope without them. After all, you are alive on this planet, and it is up to you to live your life to the fullest. It will hurt to force yourself in this way, but once the painful stitches are in place, you will heal. Take a deep breath of fresh air, and be a new person. A happy person.