4 Easy Ways to Make Yourself Happier in Life

There is so much information thrown at us every day in many different forms. We listen to the news, watch movies, talk to our friends, read articles online, and even listen in on other people’s conversations in the supermarket lineup. We are constantly taking in information, good and bad, and that affects the way we feel. What we allow into our minds affects our well-being. The good news is that we do have a choice as to what we allow into our minds. We choose what to listen to, what to watch, what to read, and what conversations to have. If we want a happier and more positive outlook on life then it only stands to reason that we need to choose more positive forms of information and weed out the negative stuff.

The Stuff That Makes us Sad

You generally know when you are not feeling totally happy. There is a sense of feeling gloomy or cloudy and you are not feeling the joy that a positive, happy outlook brings. This is the point where we can negatively affect our outlook or positively affect our outlook – all depending on the information we take in and how we let it affect us.

Low Energy Music

We all know that listening to a pumped up song can make us feel great! But listening to a sad, depressing song can have the opposite effect on us. We become sad as we think about past experiences that relate to the song or we just let the slow and sad beat drag us down into a slow and sad feeling. Avoid sad music – it’s just there to make you sadder! Fill your collection up with happy, upbeat music and get dancing.

The News

I long ago gave up even glimpsing at the news. In my college communication classes I learned much about double-talk and one sided views – and the news is full of that. They show you the negative side of life because that’s what attracts viewers. If they talked about good deeds being done all day then nobody would hang around and listen to their stories!

They also don’t really give clear answers on questions that you have, and sometimes they can leave you hanging and making up your own stories in your head (Is this sugar really going to give me a heart attack?) – It’s better to just avoid the news.

You won’t miss out on anything that you need to really know about because you will hear about important things through the grapevine. Watching it will not help you maneuver though this world – it will just give you a really messed up view of this world. Watch something more positive.

Negative People

We all have people in our lives that are just – well, sad. They are depressed or miserable or negative and they try to bring us down with them, and unfortunately most of the time it works. That’s because we partake in their conversations and allow ourselves to be brought down to their energy level. The more we talk about their sad stories, the sadder we become.

My mother-in-law is a good example of this. Her outlook on life is so sad that she has nothing else to talk about. Even when my husband got a really good job that he loves she said “Oh well…it may not be what you wanted but at least it is a job.” She followed this with a big long sigh. She ignored the fact that he loves the job and made up a sad story in her own mind! And yes, it did make him feel negative.

Avoid negative people that are not a direct part of your life, like co-workers and that grumpy cashier at the supermarket. And cut out negative friends from your life who always bring you down and don’t seem to be getting any happier. You will find that your happiness will instantly improve once you are only talking to positive and happy people.

Toxic Thoughts

Our mind is full of information! Sometimes when we are feeling down we start having conversations with ourselves. We don’t always encourage ourselves either. Sometimes, we make ourselves even more miserable with our own thoughts! That’s because our imagination can take over and make up stories about what will happen or allow ourselves to remember what DID happen – in great detail. If we don’t allow ourselves to change our mind (and get some new information in there) then we can become stuck in our negative thought pattern for a long time.

The only way to get out of your mind is to distract it. If you can’t change your thoughts to something more positive then you have to distract it with something more positive. Talk to a positive friend, listen to some good music, go to a local sports event and get into it, or read a book that takes all the power of your mind to focus on. Once you distract your mind with something more positive you will find that your thoughts will start to shift to a more positive tone.

Remember, you have the choice to make yourself happier by choosing what you allow into your life each day. If you are around sad music, negative news, miserable people, and toxic thoughts all day, how can you expect to feel happy? Choose to surround yourself with the positive and your happiness will follow suit.