Whether it be over thinking the past, anxiety for the future, or depression from the present, people experience emotions that often unsettle their lives, putting happiness on hold. While there is no definite answer, there are ways to improve your happiness, creating a wholesome and fulfilling environment.

First, make a change of any kind. Move across the country, find a new job, cook a different meal than normal. Changes, even small, can often show us where the root of the problem is. For some, routinely is comforting. For others, it is suffocating. Sometimes a routine needs some tweaking to bring back the thrill that life is supposed to possess. Happiness is thrilling if you kill the thrill than the happiness dies with it. Find the thrill and hopefully you’ll find your happiness again.

Second, find a passion. Find something that you can spend hours doing and still crave. This can be simple, like working out or reading a good book. This can be complex, like traveling the world or going to school to achieve your end goal. Life was meant to be lived passionately. Failure to entertain your passions is detrimental to your happiness.

Lastly, distance yourself from those who are hindering your moods. Friends, family, distant acquaintances whose posts on Facebook aggravate you. Find new friends, give that family member some space, and quickly hit the “unfriend” button on that user's Facebook page. Life is too short to make other people happy. Life is just long enough, though, to find the things in life that make your blood pump a little quicker, your smiles appear more often, and your heart swell even bigger.

While these ideas won’t work for everyone, they did for me. I moved across the country, from Oklahoma to South Carolina, only to lose what I knew and find who I was. Finding myself, being the cliché it is, meant that I could recognize my passions and pursue them fearlessly and confidently. I have been lucky enough to have a wonderful support system of friends and family but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been exposed to toxic relationships. Sadly, I’ve seen relationships tear people to shreds and watched as those people tried to pick up the pieces, only to realize that healing isn't as easy as they thought. Because of this, I wish we would all focus on the type of people we want surrounding us. Always choose those who are going to lift you up, inspire you, and encourage you to be the best version of yourself. Happiness is around the corner, we just need to be willing to get up, start walking and around that corner.