What Can You Do to Feel Happier Today
Being happy in life is a lot more important than many people realize. When you feel happy, you’re more productive at work and at home, you’re more willing to take calculated risks and try new things, and you’re generally more pleasant to be around, so you’re helping out friends, family, and colleagues too.
The problem is there are many things that can cause unhappiness. It might be a horrible news story, a bad journey somewhere, the weather – too hot or too cold or too rainy – a comment on social media (whether it was directed at you or not), and a plethora of other things, some big and some small. Anything can make someone feel unhappy, and that can have a devastating knock-on effect on the rest of their lives.
If something happens to turn a good day into a bad one, it’s important to know how to turn it back around and be happy again. If you know how to do this, that brief moment of unhappiness will be nothing to worry about, and you can go on with your life in a much more positive frame of mind. Of course, if you suffer from depression, this is not the same thing, and that will need help from a doctor. However, if you don’t have depression and want to know how to feel happier when something goes wrong (and just in general), read on for some advice.
Eat Right
The old saying ‘you are what you eat’ really does hold true when you think about it. When you eat foods that are bad for you, you’ll feel bad – physically and mentally – and when you eat foods that are good for you, the opposite will happen. So, when you’re feeling down, although you might be tempted to eat comfort foods to make yourself feel better, the best thing you can actually do is eat healthily.
The reason we love comfort food so much is that it boosts our serotonin levels for a while. This is not a bad thing at all – boosting the amount of serotonin in the body makes us happier, that’s true – however, there are better ways to do it than eating unhealthy food. This is not only because of the long-term implications of eating food that contains a lot of fat and sugar (which comfort food tends to do), but in the short term, we will feel bad once the first ‘high’ has worn off. However, if you eat healthy food, your body will have the nutrients it needs to boost serotonin on its own, and the positive results will be much longer lasting ad healthy.
Buy Something That Counts
Regarding serotonin, another way to increase it and help yourself feel better is to go shopping. Retail therapy is a real thing, and although it won’t work for everyone, it can be beneficial for those who enjoy it. The only issue is that, as with eating comfort food, retail therapy is a short-lived enjoyment, and it will only disguise your unhappiness rather than solve it.
Of course, that will depend on what you buy. If you buy anything you can find and don’t really think about it too much, the effects will, as we’ve said, be temporary. However, if you buy something that counts in some way, the effects will last longer, and you will be happier.
What does this mean? It could mean buying something you’ve been saving up for that will help you move forward in your life or career in some way, such as a Lenovo touch screen laptop. Not only will you not experience regret after buying something like this, but also every time you use it, you’ll feel happier again because you can see what a good purchase it was.
Another option could be to give money to charity or buy a gift for someone. If you can enjoy retail therapy with a purpose, that can make a lot of difference and ensure you feel happy.
Go Outside
Going outside to help yourself feel happier is a very simple yet often ignored tactic. Simply by stepping outside, even for a few minutes, you can enjoy the natural sunshine, gain vitamin D, and, if you move around, get some exercise too. However, even standing in one spot and breathing in the fresh air will be beneficial.
There are many reasons why going outside will make you happy. Some of the main ones include being able to take a break from everything you’re doing and enjoy nature and regulating your hormones. All of this will make you much happier and more centered.