Happiness
Everyone has bad days. Days when you question yourself and you feel like you just suck at life. I know I’ve been spending a lot of time blogging about communities on Twitter lately, but I have another example of this network coming together with kind words. I recently had an unhappy day and reached out to my community on Twitter, asking for inspiration and ideas about how to “happify” myself.
Susan Reynolds saw my happiness thread a couple weeks ago and requested that I write a post about the suggestions people had for me on how to feel happier each day. Here are my favorite responses:
@shonnoll says exercise
@thattalldude says listen to happy music
@mindchaotica and @linkedmn say to remember that things could always be worse
@cambeck says to become Joseph Jaffe
@iAlbert says to take a walk and be around nature
@geoffliving says happiness is an inside, spiritual job that external things can’t determine
@vanhoosear says learn to accept and let go
@podcastmama says to be kind to yourself, allow yourself to change your mind and get enough rest
@Paisano says to help people every day, engage in random acts of kindness and take naps
@jackvinson says to make a gratitude list
Building relationships and cultivating communities is central to our jobs as PR professionals and social media evangelists, and sometimes we get to see the strength of these social groups in ways that truly show how meaningful this stuff can be. Being a real person is SO important on the social Web. Asking, helping, advising, suggesting, being there for others. For me, I’m finding that being real and being happy go hand in hand.
If you have any suggestions of how to be happier, please post them in the comments section. Maybe we’ll all find some new ways to feel happier day-to-day.
9 Responses to “Happiness”
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- do what you love
- love what you do
- do what you do
- love what you love
and now for less mysterious answers
- enjoy nature (the bees, the sun, the green)
- have good conversations with friends
- get in touch with old forgotten friends
- smile to other people
- eat chocolate
… to be continued …
I really like this speech by Steve Jobs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA. Have you seen it? Lots of good lessons on how to be happier there. In terms of personal advise, I’ve found the more I focus on helping a cause bigger than myself, or contributing to an idea that I believe in, the happier it makes me.
Also, complete, random and silly and absurd things usually do the trick too. (i.e., mini rubber chickens; bubble wrap; sprinkle systems).
Make art! Either composing music, painting, whatever. I bet dancing is a terrific outlet for you.
Singing always makes me happy.
I hope my flippant remark at least made you smile a little. I certainly don’t want to belittle a serious situation.
One of the keys, I’ve found, to happiness in life is to never take myself too seriously. I actually have a very sober outlook on the state of human affairs, but I am able to find peace in it because I understand and am happy that God, not I, controls both the ends and the means.
Imagine everyone you meet is wearing a T-shirt that just says SMILE. That works for me.
Doesn’t work for you?
Then try imagining every attractive person you meet is NOT wearing a T-shirt that says SMILE. Ah, the power of visualization.
Even momentary happiness is a wonderful thing.
You know, happiness is fleeting — but stay with me for just a sec. I’m not downing happiness for what it’s worth. It’s worth a lot. Priceless, however, is an inner, preserving joy that has an unquenchable thirst for life lived. It takes the good and the bad, and makes the bad look not so bad after all.
We need happy moments in our lives, no doubt — I suggest ice cream.
“Happiness is a full tummy” said the teddy bear
APG, It sounds to me like you have some very wonderful, prophetic and insightful electronic friends. That is comforting! Being the old lady that I am, I would add that the human touch and face-to-face interaction add a lot to the happiness quotient. Best friends, family and fun times together mean so much in life. I especially like the comment by zach that helping someone or some cause who is less fortunate than yourself is also very rewarding. We all have a bad day here and there, but allow yourself only so much self-pity and then MOVE ON! Life is too short! I love you!
We at Princess Bubble believe true “Happily Ever After is not about finding a prince.
“True happiness,” the book reveals, “is found by loving God, being kind to others, and being comfortable with who you are already!”