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Happiness is a tricky word, heavy with possibilities. It seems like we chase it down our whole lives, trying to get it to keep, to last and to grow. We want to be happy more than almost anything else, we pray for it and we change everything about ourselves for it, and yet, it is a slippery concept.
Well, we don't know you enough to solve your life's problems, but here are some tips that may make happiness just a bit easier to reach...
1. Lower the temperature
Most people equate happiness with a summer vacation in some remote island paradise, but it turns out that a snowy mountain in Colorado may better improve your brain's mood. Research conducted by Michigan university found that breathing cold air through the nose enhances the mood much more than the effects a hot burst of air has on our brain. So if you want to raise your mood, lower the heat.
Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.
Benjamin Disraeli
2. Don't undervalue the power of nostalgia
Granma and grandpa may have known what they were doing after all. According to Dan Botner, the author of the book 'Thrive: Finding happiness the blue zones way', when we exchange stories about our high-school prom or that trip we took as children, we look at ourselves in a positive light and strengthen our social links to the environment. In addition, he recommends decorating the entirety of the house with photos and memorabiliafrom our history. He claims that decorating our house with objects of emotional value is a good way to connect with things that make us happy.
Don't wait around for other people to be happy for you. Any happiness you get you've got to make yourself.
Alice Walker
3. Don't chew yourselves over and over
To think about past failures can be a tempting thing, as we struggle to give them new meaning or to avoid repeating past mistakes. But actually, this kind of mental behavior, over time, can lead to a sense of helplessness. Research shows that this is the quick road to depression. "You start with an obsessive thought that clouds your mental clarity, and as a result you may lose your self confidence and feel miserable." Says Suzan Hoxima, professor of psychology at Yale. So instead of rethinking the same thought or event, distract yourself with a movie, book or a new challenge.
The first recipe for happiness is: avoid too lengthy meditation on the past.
Andre Maurois
4. Share the wealth
Many researchers have found that giving money and resources to others make the person happier than if they had spent it on themselves. The same thing goes for buying things for others and not ourselves. So if you are going to a coffee shop with a friend, offer to pay the bill. The profit will still be yours.
Your successes and happiness are forgiven you only if you generously consent to share them.
Albert Camus
5. Eat a snack around 2PM.
"Around this time, the levels of serotonin (the chemical in the brain that helps set our mood), can plummet," Says Eric Braverman, author of 'The edge effect'. Ideally, it is better to choose a snack that offers essential nutritious energy, such as B vitamins and complex carbs.
Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.
Abraham Lincoln
6. Stay Moving
According to social psychologists, exercizing 3 times a week for half an hour each time, may supply the same benefits as some of the most powerful psychiatric drugs. Research shows that in those 30 minutes of physical activity, the human body can increase the production of neurotropic proteins in the bran, which have an anti-depression effect. Yoga as well has relaxing effects for the brain and the parasympathetic nervous system (the ones that calms the body down).
Just do what must be done. This may not be happiness, but it is greatness.
George Bernard Shaw
7. Limit options
"When we make a choice, we usually want the best for ourselves," says psychologist Barry Schwartz. This means we tend to consider everything that we can do, which can be a stressing burden. Schwartz maintains that every time we find ourselves unable to move from the overbearing stream of possibilities, we should try to cut down the options to a minimum and then make a quick, non-apologetic choice. It is the conflicting that makes us feel low and stressed.
Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.
Omar Khayyam
8. Start Baking.
Well, it doesn't have to be baking. Hoola hooping or knitting will do the same, anything that will demand 100% of your attention while doing it. According to Minhaly Csikszentmihalyi, professor of psychology and management in Claremont University in California, "This will give you the kind of motivation and focus that bring with them happiness."
It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness.
Charles Spurgeon
9. Make your bed
"In a research I conducted for a book about happiness," tell us author Gretchen Robin, "making the best was the number one change people testified made their day better." It turns out people are happier when they complete small daily chores in their lives. So if you don't have a maid doing it for you, check those little way you can make your life more efficient and pleasant. Whether it's making your bed, setting a doctor's appointment or water the plants. Each day, try to complete one task that will make you happier.
Happiness is found in doing, not merely possessing.
Napoleon Hill
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Image courtesy of: imagerymajestic / freedigitalphotos.net
