Small Changes That Will Make You Happier and Healthier
Dear Alice,Today I would like to talk to you about a topic that I just love and that is “happiness”. Since we have just embarked a new journey in the new year that has just started, I think that this is the perfect time to talk about a very interesting topic and that is about small changes that you can easily apply to your everyday life and that can make you happier and healthier as a person.
“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” – Dalai Lama
“We can’t control the world. We can only (barely) control our own reactions to it. Happiness is largely a choice, not a right or entitlement.” – David C. Hill.
“Be happy. It’s one way of being wise.” – Sidonie Gabrielle Colette
“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.” Denis Waitle
Being an intricate and fascinating topic for everyone, happiness is definitely a goal that each and every one of us wants to reach and to attain. Even if maybe defining happiness is not easy for anyone, attending happiness is definitely a goal that applies to almost everyone I would say. The good news is that attending happiness is easier than you expect. You do not have to read any complicated studies, you just need to take the responsibility for your own happiness and to follow tiny tips and tricks that you can apply to your everyday life (starting today) and that will make you happier and healthier.
So here is my list of small changes that will make you happier and healthier as a person:
1. Decide to cook a home-made meal at least once per week. There is nothing else more relaxing and enjoyable that cooking a home-made meal at home either alone or with your family. It will give you the chance to practice the great art of cooking and it will give you the chance to share your experiences throughout the day.
2. Watch a documentary. This will enlarge your general knowledge horizon and will provide you with new information that you can use in the future.
3. Take a bath. Take a bath with your favorite music playlist and relax yourself after a long day at work or at home.
4. Go for a walk. Go outside and enjoy the fresh air, even if only for 10 minutes a day. It will improve your state of mind.
5. Exercise. Go to the gym, go swimming or running, go with the bicycle or even for a hike, anything that will raise your pulse and will make your heart-rate pumping. Except for increasing your endurance and adrenaline, it will also cause the releasing of endorphins, which will contribute to increasing your happiness.
6. Learn a new thing everyday. Watch a new tutorial, read a new entry on Wikipedia, read a new article, listen to a new podcast entry, anything that is new for you. Nowadays you have so many possibilities to learn something new every day, so use this chance at the maximum.
7. Prepare breakfast. A great start to your day that will long not be forgotten: prepare breakfast for your family and show them you do know how to spoil them every now and then.
8. Read your favorite book. Take the time to read your favorite book, it is important to spend time on yourself and on your mental health.
9. Smile. According to research, smiling is good for both your health and for your relationships. Smiling can even improve the effectiveness at the workplace and can definitely raise your spirits. So try to smile as often as possible!
10. Be grateful. Life is definitely too short for any regrets, so be grateful for everything that happens to you, there is a good reason for everything for sure.
11. Take responsibility for your actions. There is only one person accountable for your actions, and that is yourself. Always stand up and take responsibility for your actions no matter what.
12. Help someone. Try to help someone even without being ask for it. It can either be someone at home, in your family, or one of your friends, it can simply be someone in the office, it can be someone you have just met and needs your help, or it can be a complete stranger that needs your help and that you could support without any danger. This will give you for sure a feeling of gratification.
12. Be flexible and agile. Nowadays in order to be successful you need to be able to rethink yourself daily, to be open to change and to react fast to it. Being flexible will definitely make your life easier and it will help you embrace successfully and with no regrets the world around you.
13. Be positive. Stay positive in any situation you find yourself in, there is nothing else more important than always seeing the good in everything around you. This will for sure lift your spirit.
14. Text a friend. Every now and then text a friend and show him/her you care and be prepared to help if needed. This will for sure make you feel more compassionate and thus happier.
15. Let it go. Don’t linger too much on negative experiences and/or happenings. Acknowledge your feelings, forgive yourself and the others and move on.
16. Meet your friends. Organize an evening to the restaurant or to the theater with your friends, go for a coffee or to the cinema with your friends, everything that gives you the chance to meet your friends will definitely cheer you up.
17. Surround yourself with positive and open-minded people. Because these are the people that will help you to develop yourself further as a person and to surpass your boundaries.
18. Don’t compare yourself with other people. Each person has its own rhythm and its own pace in life, so don’t compare your goals or your experiences with other people. This will set unrealistic boundaries for yourself, and after all each person is unique in its own way, and each person should find its own path in life without any restrictions whatsoever.
This is my list of small changes that will make you happier and healthier as a person. Since we just started a new year, this could be a good reference for the new year and for the new year’s resolutions!
Sincerely yours,
Madalina