10 ways to be happy NOW

I was inspired by this article "9 ways to be happy in the next 30 minutes".  I thought I could tweak it a little bit and put my own twist on it that I think would be more rewarding to YOU.  So here is my list of 10 things you can do to be happy NOW.

1.  Be grateful.  This is slightly different from saying "thank you" or something of that nature.  "Being" grateful means much more than simply saying it or thinking it.  It means feeling it.  When you combine the thought of gratitude with the feeling of gratitude it opens up a whole new world.  Be grateful for what you have instead of thinking about what you don't have.  It might be as simple as appreciating a tree outside your window or simply being grateful for the breath you breathe.  But be sure to incorporate feeling into.

2.  Do something you love.  Get out and do something you're passionate about.  Too often we convince ourselves that we are "too busy" to do the things that we enjoy.  Before we know it we are working ourselves to death and not enjoying life.  Surprisingly enough the things we enjoy doing bring us joy.  So do yourself a favor and set time aside to do something you love.

3.  Commit an act of kindness.  You've seen the bumper stickers that say "random acts of kindness" etc, well do just that.  Pick up a piece of trash that isn't yours.  Push that shopping cart that's sitting in the parking lot back to the proper place.  Pay for the person behind you in the drive thru.  And do it without telling anyone.  Yep I said it.  This has to be without strings attached.

4.  Just breathe.  Take a minute, or 5, or 30 to just sit in silence.  The idea behind it is to be in the present moment.  Escape all the chatter that is constantly going on in your head, about the past or the future, that makes you more exhausted than any physical activity ever will.  A simple way to practice this is to sit up in a quiet space with your eyes closed and simply focus on your breathing.  Slow, deep and deliberate breaths.  Be patient with yourself as you are certain to have stray thoughts creeping in.  Just refocus.  It will do wonders for your health.

5.  Smile.  Sometimes it's easy allow our negative internal thoughts to become external and walk around frowning or just indifferent.  Try smiling more.  I'm no scientist but I can tell you by simply giving someone a smile I feel instantly better than the moment before.  I especially like to do this while feeling grateful - it seems to boost my happiness more.  There is science and research behind it but I won't pretend to know how it works (and it's just not important).  Just try it...smile!

6.  Get outside.  Similar to getting out and doing something you love, get out and just be out.  What I mean is get outside your cubicle or your home and experience nature in some form.  There is also science that supports being in nature boosts happiness.  If you can't make it to the local mountains hit a near by park.

7.  Exercise.  Don't gasp upon reading this one.  Any kind of exercise is good.  Just get off the couch!  Go for a run, ride your bike, play a sport or just go for a walk.  Something to get your blood moving.  Sitting around for long periods of time is associated with depression.  You're brain needs more oxygenated blood and that's where some physical activities come into play.

8.  Pay someone a compliment.  The more creative and sincere the compliment the better you'll feel.  Any compliment is good but again do it with feeling behind it.

9.  Say no.  This might seem very alien to some of you but for many people codependency is a killer.  Codependency is a broad term I'll try to narrow down for the purpose of this: basically doing something you might not want to do but doing it out of fear of hurting someone else's feelings.  Saying yes can occasionally work against you - if it's not what you really want to do.  This is such a deep seeded behavior in most people that it's hard to realize you are doing it so start with some awareness.  When one of those occasions pops up take a step back and ask yourself what's really going on here.  If you want to say yes out of guilt then it's probably not a healthy choice.  Typically people will say yes when they don't want to to save the trouble of feeling guilty for "letting someone down".  But remember that how they perceive your "no" is their business and nothing to do with you.  As long as you say no from a place of responsibility then you are taking care of yourself.  If your heart is telling you to say no but your ego is telling you to say yes - listen to your heart.

10.  Give.  More specifically when you give bless the act.  More often than not when we give something we have to someone else we have a tendency to feel like we've lost what we have given them when in reality we haven't.  If we give from a place of reluctancy or loss then we are reinforcing those negative thoughts and that just leads to resentment.  Try blessing the act of giving...no matter what it is.  When you pay your bills acknowledge the good in what you are doing: you are supporting the company supplying you with what you need etc.  Find the good in your act of giving and focus on that.