Growing up, people would always comment on how quiet I was, how I always seemed sad and never smiled. I would never make eye contact with people when passing by, and if they smiled at me, I hardly ever smiled back. Flash forward two years and I'm happiest I've ever been. People always comment that I'm always happy and smiling. They actually get concerned when I'm not smiling. Here are some tips on how you can be a happier person.

1. SMILE

This seems so obvious, but it really is a key to becoming happier. If you start to smile more and smile at other people you'll find yourself being happier. Just try it! (I promise it works!)

2. Get rid of toxic friends and focus on the good ones.

If you have a friend that only puts you down, and makes you feel bad about yourself, then that person really isn't your friend. Friends are in ours live to make us happy, if they're doing the opposite, then it might be time to cut the friendship. I know that it's upsetting to think about, depending on how long this person has ben involved in your life. But trust me, coming from this experience, once you spend more time with the positive influences in your life, you realize that they have a better impact on you than the toxic ones ever did.

3. Say positive things about yourself.

I have a really good friend who always says " awesome" or "I'm so awesome" it's basically her catchphrase. Ever since I started hanging out with her, I've started to say it also. (I probably say awesome at least 30 times a day. If not more.) Ever since I made the word part of my daily vocabulary, people have picked up on it and have started calling me awesome. I feel that in life, we tend to spend a lot of time focuses on the negative qualities we have, that we forget all of our amazing, positive qualities. If you spend more time focusing on those positive qualities , you'll start to see that they out rule the negative qualities that you think you have. Others will notice this about you, and start picking up on it as well.

4. Wear bright colors.

I know, it sounds silly, but think about it. Can you really be upset when wearing a bright yellow t-shirt? I know I can't. Whenever I wear a bright colored t -shirt, it just puts me in this positive mood, and I stay that way for the whole day

5 . Don't worry about what others think of you, do what YOU love.

Don't be afraid to be the person that you are. If you love to dance on the hood of your car to rap music in the middle of the Target parking lot, Do it. If don't have the greatest voice, but love to sing, sing as loud as your voice will allow. As long as you are doing what YOU love, and what makes YOU happy. Who cares about what other people think?

6. Live in the present, not in the past.

There's a song that I love that has this lyric "That's why the past should be the past. Far behind, back of mind, out of the way" I love this song because, as human beings, we tend to harp on the regrets that we've made in the past when we should be focusing on what we can and will do in the present. I'm not saying that you shouldn't think about your past, but don't stress about it. Look forward to the things that will happen in the future. You have so many good days ahead of you, don't let them go escape you because you were stuck on something from the past.

7. Laugh at yourself.

We all do things throughout the day that may be embarrassing to us, but instead of running away and hiding under your blanket for the rest of your life, the best thing you can do it laugh at yourself for it. For example, I am the clumsiest person you will EVER meet. (I'm not kidding I trip over flat surfaces, and walk into walls). I'll be in a store, goofing off with one of my brothers, and then proceed to trip on a random object, and knock over a display. What do I do when this happens? Burst out laughing, and then proceed to joke about it for the rest of the day. When I was younger, I would get so upset over doing something like this. But as I got older, I began to realize, you're going to dumb things in your life, getting upset about it not going to change it. Instead, laugh about it. You'll be so much happier, and plus you'll probably end up forgetting the incident happened in the first place.