“Happy New Year!”
How many people wished you a ‘Happy New Year?’ Dobryou think they are wishing you to be happy just on New Year’s Day, or are theybrwishing that you be happy for the whole year?
Is it even possible to be happy all year? Probably not, but, you can definitely be happier. Here are a few ways how:
1. Try to make the people around you happier. One way to be happy is to surround yourself with happy people. And that’ll be easier to do if you can be the source of some of their happiness. This doesn’t mean to subvert your will and always do what someone else wants. But it doesbrmean to do little things (or occasional big things) that will bring a smile tobrtheir faces. Surprise your spouse with flowers. Play a board game or read abrbook with your kids. Do something to help a co-worker. Heck, just smile atbrpeople. (It might be unnerving at first, but eventually they usually smile back.)
2. Step away from your rectangles. We spend waybrtoo much time staring at our rectangles. We have many rectangles: cell phones,brlaptops, and/or televisions. (Some people even stare at the microwave oven,brwaiting impatiently for food that is taking too darn long to heat up!) Thesebrrectangles can be entertaining and informative, but they often divert ourbrattention from the real world. Interacting with people and/or nature is a bitbrmore difficult if our face is transfixed on a rectangle.
3. Don’t focus on the negative. It’s amazing howbrmuch the negativity of others can change our own attitude. Maybe you reallybrliked a movie…until you saw how much some other people disliked it. If you’rebralways looking for what’s wrong with something, you won’t be able to enjoybrwhat’s good about it. (Oh, and stay away from online comments sections. That’sbrwhere nastiness goes to breed.)
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4. Try something new. It’s pretty easy to getbrstuck in the rut of our everyday life. Stepping out of your comfort zone andbrtrying something you’ve never done before can add a thrill and maybe even a bitbrof happiness to your life. I read a book once by a philosopher that emphasizedbrhow if we try new things, we might actually like things we didn’t think webrwould. (I believe it was called “Green Eggs and Ham.” Look it up if you get thebrchance.)
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So, if we want our “Happy New Year” to be for thebrwhole year and not just New Year’s Day, it really isn’t that difficult. (Thebrrest of January deserves a little happiness too!) For more funny-ish stuff, gobrto slowjoe40.com. (Capell is a Serve Dailybrcontributor.)
