Cool Ways to be Happy !!!

sourced from
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/0,28757,1631176,00.html
(20 Ways to Get and Stay Happy polled by Time.com)

1. count your blessings. and do them at optimal timings so it doesn't lose its freshness and meaning.





2. music and food..









3. make love, cuddle and sex.





4. nurture your spirituality or meditation. reasons: social support, sense of purpose and community rooting.




5. move your body, dance, exercise, sports. reason: releases endorphins.



6. big laughs!



7. do something nice to someone else



8. make more money than your peers. reason: saving for retirement and rainy days, anticipation and expectation, a sense of delayed gratification and reward.

9. seek positive emotions and then success. reason: happiness can create success. success can stem from physical health, intelligence, family and expertise.

10. identify with your heritage and culture. reason: strengthens bonds and appreciate cultural differences.



11. use happy memory as a guide. scan for strengths, talents, passions, interests, practical coping skills, and earlier potential — whether it's actualized or not.

12. be optimistic. eg: straighten body posture, bigger steps, head up, energized and happier tone, upbeat and happier words used.

13. try new things.







14. tell your story to someone.reason: memory's natural bias is to keep tabs on the good stuff and gradually lose the emotional intensity of a bad event. talking about a negative experience made the emotional intensity of that memory fade faster than if the event had not been recounted. better with lot of audience diversity— it helps to tell the story many times to a variety of people.

15. home - work balance. separators often happier than integrators.

16. keep expectations realistic. reason: the higher one's expectations, the further they fall.

17. make time. have more control and optimize them.



18. visualize happiness. also enhances confidence.

19. smile. our minds react to the change in our facial expression to bring our beliefs in line with our behavior.



20. marry happy. reason: intimacy and emotional closeness. people in committed relationships have been shown to be happier than those who aren't, despite how satisfying their marriages actually are.