Do you consider yourself to be a happy person? If you had to give yourself a happiness score on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being totally UNhappy and 10 being exuberant, what is your score?
I’ve been seeing lots of articles about happiness, and there are lots of opinions out there about what makes people happy and how to get happy, but I think it is an individual thing. Not everything works for everyone and women are much different from men in that regard.
REALLY? Yeah, like you didn’t know that!
I read so many articles that I started feeling really confused so I put them all away and just focused on myself – what is it that makes me happy?
I believe that happiness is a choice, and that if you LOOK for things to feel happy about you are much more likely to find it – what you focus on EXPANDS!
These are the things that I do that helps me – maybe you do these things too. My hope is that you will find something in my list that helps you raise your happiness score!
1. Take my dog for a walk. I love my dog and I love to be outside so this one is a no-brainer for me! I also know that exercise causes endorphins to be released, the feel-good hormones, so there is almost no way for this to fail.
2. Take a bath, putting something that smells really nice in the tub, and read magazines. I’ve tried books and they don’t work as well – I think I just don’t want to concentrate that hard. Paging through, looking at the pictures, finding new recipes, reading about the latest this and that – I always feel more relaxed when I get out.
3. Music. I know “they” recommend classical and it does lots of good things for stress levels, and that works sometimes. But for me it works best with good ol’ rock ‘n roll, loud. Memory Lane trips in and sometimes I have to get up and jump around with it. Love it!
4. Deep Breathing. There are lots of different breathing techniques and they all work pretty well. For me, the 6 breaths a minute technique works well, sometimes I do affirmations with it and sometimes not. Usually I imagine exhaling toxins and negative vibes, inhaling ease and relaxation.
5. Compliment others, say thank you, express appreciation. Out loud. Almost everyone really likes this (genuine, not contrived). And when you lift someone else up, you just seem to go with them – two people feel better for the price of one!
6. I call my sister. She is my best friend. While we don’t live close to each other she is only a phone call or text away, and connecting with her just makes me feel good.
7. Hugs. I confess – I am a hugger. I love to hug. I hug my husband, I hug my dog, I hug my neighbors when I see them… (I love hugging my husband the most!)
8. Be grateful. I spend time every day thinking about what I am grateful for. I used to write in a gratitude journal every day, and I don’t do that anymore – but that sort of got me used to thinking about it and I just do it mentally now.
9. This last one is something that I only started doing lately. It may be my new favorite way to lift my mood if I start going down the proverbial rabbit hole. I go general in my thinking when I realize I feel anxious or stressed about something I can’t figure out. This means thinking in a positive general way instead of focusing so specifically on something – “Things always work out for me,” “I don’t have to figure this out right now.” This seems to break that negative loop we all tend to move into at times.
What do you do to increase your happiness? Let us know by making a comment below.
