Everyone is always waiting. No matter what the situation is we are always waiting for the next thing to happen. Monday comes around and we spend the next five days talking about how we can't wait for the weekend. Instead of playing in the snow in the winter, we mope around talking about how we wish it was summer.
We get stuck in this routine; school, homework, work, sleep, and we never seem to be able to break free of it. This daily routine leads us to become bored with our lives and happiness is hard to find. When we get to this point in life where we become unfamiliar with happiness, we have no choice but to create or own. Lucky for us, there are about a million things we could do to bring this happiness back in our lives if we finally decide to make the time for them.
1. Wake up earlier.
I know that this is hard sometimes (all of the time), but it really can change your whole mood for the day. Wake up early, drink some coffee and mentally prepare yourself to take on the day! It will boost your confidence and motivation, making you more productive throughout the whole day.
2. Go outside.
Take a hike or go for a run. Either way, just make sure you get some fresh air. Being cooped up inside all day can make you tired and more stressed out. Being outside can freshen up your mood and make you feel healthier and happier!
3. Write.
Coming from a writer, this probably seems like a biased perspective. Even if you don't want to write a whole novel, just simply journaling can help ease a lot of stress. Information and thoughts get piled up in our heads throughout the day and it's not healthy to worry about a million things at once. So instead of keeping your troubles on your mind all day, keep them on a piece of paper!
4. Do crafts.
Paint, make bracelets, color, do literally any craft you want. Taking time to make things that you actually want to make, rather than doing things to hand to your professor or boss, is a really accomplishing feeling. When you finish you feel a sense a pride and relief - and you get to keep your project!
5. Exercise.
Go to the gym for at least 30 minutes and do some cardio. You will literally feel the toxins and stress being sweat out of your body. Even if you hate running, the feeling you have after is so rewarding.
6. Make lists.
Make any kind of list you can think of. List out things you want to buy, places you want to visit, movies you've always wanted to watch or goals you want to accomplish. It sounds silly but sometimes listing can make you feel more organized and goal-oriented. When you feel like you're more goal-oriented, you may even start to accomplish more goals! You know what they say, fake it until you make it.
7. Forgive those who don't apologize.
This is hard. It won't happen in one day but if you let go of everything anyone has ever done to you, it takes a lot off of your own plate. Even if these people never asked for your forgiveness, give it to them anyways. That does not mean you let these negative people back into your life, just that you stop burdening yourself with the responsibility of being mad at them.
8. Eat green.
Eating healthy is not only good for your physical health, but also your mental health as well. If you feel like there is something sucking the life out of you and dragging you down, there probably is! Unhealthy food literally does suck the life out of you. Start replacing your pizza at lunch with a big green salad and the energy you once had will be restored.
9. Stop Instagram stalking.
We're all guilty of it. You're bored or lazy and don't feel like doing anything else so you scroll through your phone looking at anyone and everyones Instagram posts. Not only did you just take all that time to focus on someone else's life instead of your own, but now you all of a sudden feel sad because it looks like they are having so much fun at all these parties they've been going to! You start to feel sad about your own life because you feel like you haven't been having as much fun as all of these people on Instagram. That's not true- I promise they are stalking your Instagram thinking the exact same thing.
10. Buy something.
Obviously I don't mean go buy a new car every time you feel sad. Even just buying something simple and cheap like a candle or some new colored pens can brighten your day when you get into a rut.
11. Be a planner.
Get a pretty planner, get some highlighters and markers and start planning out your days. Plan in something different every day or write yourself little notes reminding yourself to smile. Planning will give you something productive to do when you're bored and it will force you to get things done on time and ease the stress of remembering it all.
12. Mess up.
You won't be good at everything that you do the very first time you do it. Accept this. Embrace it. Laugh when you mess up instead of being mad at yourself. There is no need for that negativity brought on by yourself. Just simply laugh it off and try again.
13. Stop thinking that it's too late.
It is never too late to change your mindset. You can do this at 17 or you can this at 70. Start off slow, adding little things into your life that make you happy and make you look forward to each day. Slow and steady wins the race!
14. Be gracious and kind.
Give to others with no expectation of getting anything in return. Do favors for others without being asked to do them. You will make them happy, and seeing that will make you happy.
15. Do things with passion.
Whatever it is that you do in life, do it passionately. Put all that you have into it and do it to the best of your ability. Make things and do things that you are proud of, whether it be in work, in school or something you are working on for yourself. Live your whole life with so much passion, that you make others feel passionate.
Too many people say that life is hard. I don't think that is true. I think that life is actually really simple but we have this idea in our heads that it has to be so much more than what it really is, so we are never really happy. Just take life one day at a time and add in some of these little things every single day to brighten up your mood!
