Happiness seems like an hourglass. The sand scatters, fleeting in every which way and impossible to grasp. With the pandemic, it’s more important than ever to find out how to combat sadness.
I did the smile test on YouTube where you had to smile for about 30 seconds. By the end of the allotted time, found myself much happier than when I started. The point of the test is to show that forcing yourself to smile grants you a bit of happiness.
While there are reasons to be unhappy, there are just as many reasons to be happy. Here are ways of looking at the day-with a brand new mindset. I’ll list everything the categories in happiness, including social, physcial, mental, spiritual and general.
Social
How can you be happier when you have little? Look around you and practice awareness. This will help you be happier.
Practicing gratitude is one of the many ways to feel happier daily. When you focus on what you have rather than what you don’t have, then you’re happier. You practice gratitude regularly to increase happiness. Realizing what’s around you helps with realizing that life is much more than possessions.
Invest in experiences
Having the new item you’ve always wanted is nice, and it can make you happy for a bit. It does not compare to experiences. A trip to different places in your hometown or even across the United States?
Investing in experiences makes for glorious memories and builds meaningful connections to people you travel with. Even if you’re traveling alone, you can use this time to have fun, reflect, and enjoy life to the fullest. Experiences are great for enjoying the fruits of life.
Talk with Loved Ones: Build Relationships with People
When you talk with loved ones, parents, friends or partner. Catch up with them, let them know what you’ve been up to, and enjoy a lot of goofy smiles.
Talk to them a few times a week and spend time with cheerful people. When you spend time with these people, you adopt their happy tics and make yourself happy in return. Building close relationships creates pillars of love, support and increases a sense of worth and belonging.
Physical
Love yourself by taking care of yourself
Exercise, drink water, and eat healthy food are a few things you can do. I find myself at my best when I’m not eating sugar, got plenty of rest, and being hydrated. It makes a difference in how you take care of yourself.
Get enough sleep
7-9 hours of sleep is the ideal amount for an adult. Getting enough sleep makes it easier to get up early and help take on the day.
Keep a consistent time when you wake up and go to sleep. Get into a routine so your body knows when it’s time to rest. When you get in a pattern, going to sleep is another step.
Take on stress
Stress is something we all experience, which is why everyone needs to deal with stress in healthy ways. One of those ways is resilience. Learning resilience will help you in the long run and make sure you can do this similar thing in the future.
Resilience leads to acceptance and being accepting of who you are and your own opinions and interest will help you in the long run. Not only will you feel less stressed afterward, but it will also empower you to repeat this action in the future. It will be helpful with self-esteem and other behavioral issues.
Mental
Listen to music
Music is such a big thing for me. When I need to relax work or write I usually turn on music. It can vary from video game music to any relaxing music. I wrote an article a while back relating to study music for studying and writing.
Something I came across not that long ago is the idea of flow. A state of activity that is easily rewarding and occupies our minds complete. Something that makes everything flow away.
Don’t compare yourself to others
Social media is linked to unhappiness. The digital age of vulnerability, especially when people are sharing the exciting parts of their lives. This ties back into practicing awareness. Being grateful for what you have around you.
Be aware you’re only seeing a piece of someone’s highlight reel. It’s just a window of their lives and not their entire story.
Don’t jump to conclusions
You can never know what someone is going through. Try to not micro analyze everyone’s little actions and words. They could go through something that has nothing to do with you.
Spiritual
Forgive yourself and others
If you didn’t quite get what you were striving to get or learn or whatever, forgive yourself. And strive to complete it the next time. View every opportunity as self-growth. Learn from it and make plans to achieve what you want to achieve.
Forgiving others is important. Let it be. The past is the past. The best you can do is learn from it and not allow it to sour your viewpoint and actions from yourself and others.
Don’t sweat the minor details. A simple way of practicing this is by asking yourself if this will matter tomorrow, next week, or next month? If not, you know what to do.
General
Time is Important: Use it to Be Productive and always learn new things
Whether it’s taking on new hobbies or searching YouTube for a crash course, it’s always a great idea to learn something new. Take on challenges, learn something you’ve always wanted to learn but haven’t gotten around to, be sure you stay curious, and expose yourself to new ideas. Keep your mind sharp.
Plan your week
Along with the goals and whatever you want to accomplish. Make things a priority and take the steps to complete these goals.
Remember, life is too short for anything negative.
Happiness is not just a choice; it is a necessary thing you can do to enjoy your life to the fullest. Life is hard, but it does not need to be hopeless and awful. Life is what you ask of it.
May it inspire you to take on these tips and live your best life.
Photo by Szilvia Basso on Unsplash
Into the Mind Realm 