12 Dec Happiness…generating positive emotions when you’re not feeling happy
As I’ve written many times before, noone should expect happiness all the time. It’s appropriate and OK and heathy and normal to experience a range of emotions, including positive ones such as happiness and joy and pride and love BUT ALSO including the so-called negative ones such as sadness and loss and anxiety and frustration.
Accepting these emotions is important and healthy and something we all need to learn to do (as opposed to fighting them) because no matter who you are or what you do you can’t be happy all the time…
…but, even if we accept that acceptance is important and that happiness is not possible every minute of every day there’s no reason why we can try to experience positive emotions as often as possible and there’s also no reason why we can’t try to lift ourselves out of negativity as quickly as possible. So with this in mind, here are some things you might like to try next time you’re feeling down…
- Do something for someone else – if you can’t feel good maybe you can make someone else feel good (and more than likely, you’ll benefit as well!)
- Listen to your favourite music or watch somethign funny on TV
- Go for a walk or do some form of exercise or activity
- Spend some time in nature, by the beach or in a park…for many this can be a powerful mood enhancer
- Reflect on your priorities and keep things in perspective…is what’s upsetting you really as bad as it might now seem?
- Practice, even if just for a few minutes, a session of relaxation or meditation
These are just a few examples of happiness boosting strategies; things that might help even during difficult times. Give them a go and also, add your own suggestions on our Facebook page so we can all benefit and maybe learn a few new tricks!