Do you ever feel like you are in a bad mood but don't know why? Maybe you are living a life that is not satisfying to you. If you are looking to make a change in your life, and choose happiness, here are my challenges to you. A lot of these are based on how making others happy will make you happy and some are just for you.
1. Smile more and at everyone. You could make someone's day while improving yours. It has been found that just by smiling your brain's reward center lights up and your mood improves. This happens just by moving the muscles on your face.
2. Give out compliments. Think about how much it would mean to you if someone told you they really admired your new purse, or hair style, or they thought you were funny. Make lot's of people's days by giving compliments freely and I promise you will feel good too.
3. Little acts of kindness. You don't have to do anything big, and trust me, I know as a college student money is tight. Instead of yelling at your roommate for her one cup in the sink, put it in the dishwasher for her. Buy your boyfriend dinner this time. Send a nice text to an old friend. Call your parents just to chat. Let a car over instead of speeding up. These things don't need to be big and you don't need to be recognized for them, but they can make someone's day which will make yours.
4. Stop being passive aggressive on social media. This means stop sub-tweeting and whatever it is called on Facebook. If someone or something bothers you, go to that person directly. It looks immature when you post about it on social media in a way that is calling out the person but not too clearly so you can still deny it if they ask if its about them. Take care of your problems appropriately, and I promise, you will solve them faster and feel happy sooner.
5. Forgive people. If you hold onto anger and bad feelings toward someone, it only hurts you more. In some cases it only affects you. The other person is going about their life and you are the only one still being crippled by feelings of anger or sadness. Try this one and you will feel better instantly. Its not healthy to cling onto negative feelings for long periods of time.
6. Make a new friend. You can never have too many friends and lots of happiness is found in our relationships with people.
7. Go to the gym. Whenever I am in a bad mood for any reason, valid or not, going to the gym always helps. It allows you to channel your frustration or mood into something healthy. You will feel a lot better after.
8. Take a day for yourself. This is hard for the average involved student, but it can be immensely rewarding. Taking the day to be lazy in your bed all day, to go shopping by yourself, or to craft if that is what you like, will allow you time to just simply "be." There is no pressure to perform a certain way or to have to sacrifice something to be with other people. Do whatever you want to do for a day and treat yourself.
9. Organize your space. Not everyone is like me, in that I love to clean. But there is real research behind the fact that clean spaces lead to reduced stress levels. If you don't like to clean, do it gradually and watch TV while you do it.
10. Seek Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that our lives can only be fulfilled by Him.No earthly item will ever make us truly and completely happy. If you already know Jesus, pick up your bible and flip through. If you don't know Jesus, contact a friend who does, or you can contact me. What could it hurt?
Hopefully some of these sink in and you will find happiness doing these. Remember that helping others helps us. If none of these help you find happiness; take a nap, and eat some pizza. Maybe you are just tired or hungry. That is usually the problem when I am grumpy at least. Have an awesome life, and make sure to make it's meaningful.
