This is certainly a trying time for everyone, but it’s important to stay positive. Here are some tried-and-true pieces of advice from professors and scientists. These methods and habits can be applied to anyone’s lives to add in a bit more happiness and positivity.
Hang in there 🙂
Savoring
Savoring is the act of taking a minute to thoroughly immerse yourself into an experience to appreciate it and take in every detail. Many people fly through their day in a blur, not really living in the moment and appreciating the little things. Studies have shown that, although we chase high-paying jobs, fancy cars, and excellent grades, little things can actually boost your happiness levels more than you might expect.
Whether it’s doing a simple act of kindness like making breakfast or really enjoying a nice bowl of soup, savoring can help highlight moments throughout your day and make it much more intricate and meaningful. Throughout the day, try to write down five things you savored, or share the experience with another person.
Daily Gratitude Journal
Gratitude is expressing and feeling thankfulness for what you have. It’s a way to show you really appreciate the good things in your life, and even helps establish better social connections. In fact, researchers have determined that gratitude is strongly linked to increased happiness levels, better health, decreased stress, strong social bonds, and the ability to deal with difficult situations (such as the one we’re currently facing).
There are several simple, effective ways of showing gratitude, the first of which is keeping a daily gratitude journal (a habit I’ve taken to myself). Essentially, you write down five things you’re grateful for every day, and when you’re feeling hopeless or in a funky mood, you can always go back and remind yourself of all the reasons you have to smile.
Another method is by sending a (preferably hand-written) letter to someone letting them know how grateful you are for their presence in your life. It doesn’t have to be long, just heartfelt. Understandably, there may not be a way to deliver this letter in person right now, but try to Facetime instead of just shooting them an email.
Whether it’s reliving past memories, not taking things for granted, or maintaining a sense of optimism and hope, gratitude manifests itself in a myriad of ways, and never disappoints.
A Healthy Lifestyle
As cliched as this may seem, getting an adequate amount of sleep each day can be a game-changer. Sleep can help prevent cardiovascular issues, cancer, and stress while simultaneously making you feel alert and energized the next morning. Being well-rested makes you more ready to take on the world, and puts you in a better mood in general.
Exercise is also vital to a healthy mindset. Other than the obvious physical benefits, exercise can help you feel more energetic, powerful, assertive, and relaxed. It can help you sleep well at night, and is as effective as antidepressant medications such as Zoloft or SSRIs. Just 30 minutes everyday can result in a large difference in your mood and physical health.
Since we can’t go outside, many of us are probably turning to social media to keep ourselves occupied. As entertaining as it might be, try staying off of Facebook, Instagram, or WeChat, and see what happens. You might find that you’ll feel a lot better about yourself, and have more time to do other things that can really help you feel better, like gardening, exercising, or just chilling with your family. As preachy as this might sound, if everyone got off social media, everyone would be that much happier. I quit social media, and so can you. Delete the app for 24 hours and I think you’ll like the results.
Yes, we are living in a difficult situation, but who’s to say that we can’t still be happy. The 50-10-40% Formula states that 50% of your happiness is determined by your genetics, 10% by life circumstances, and 40% by your own thoughts and actions. While your genetics may just depend on the luck of the draw, the other 40% (which is four times 10%, by the way) is entirely up to you.
