Put on a Happy Face

I am happy. Actually, I am very happy. I consider myself a very positive, self motivated, and an enjoyment to be around. (Stop laughing.) I have a great job, I have a roof over my head, I have food on my plate (Suzie, shut up) and I have clothes on my back. I have a car that gets me from point A to point B, while I am not sure for how much longer it will be doing so, and I have a great set of friends that are never too far away. I honestly could not ask for much more. And I truly do appreciate everything I have. (It might not always seem that way, I know. But I do.)

But a research study that was dropped today suggest a new set of ways to make you happy if you are feeling down. What are they? Well, how about we talk about a few of them, shall we?

The first one is to raise your energy level. Apparently being active will make you happier than if you were laying in bed or sitting on the couch watching TV. The study claims that if you are up and active just thirty more minutes a day that you will see an increase in your mood. So put down the jelly doughnut and start walking mister.

And that leads to the second one, which is an off shoot from the first. The second thing that is said to make you a happier person is to go for a walk. Every day spend time walking with no other purpose than that itself. Walk to the store if you live close by. Walk around the block if you happen to have one of those. Just walk. (Do I sense an undertone from the people that brought us this survey? Are they calling us all fat without simply saying it?)

Further down the list is save some one’s life. Save some one’s life? Are you kidding me? OK, well, I guess tomorrow I will sit by the intersection, wait for a fatal collision, and climb in the wreckage to pull out any survivors. Save someone’s life. Come on here people. Of course, I can imagine that this does not mean to literally save someone’s life, but rather become an organ donor or something to that effect. I mean, like they always say, even after you are gone, women are still trying to take your heart out. (Name that movie and you win a prize.)

The last one that got my attention was to act happy. Basically, what this is saying, is that even if you are not happy, pretend to be anyway. Role play that you are happy even though you hate your dead end job, your cat died last week, you got hit by a bus and have two broken legs, your mom has the flu, and you lost your mortgage due to your insane gambling addiction. Act happy anyway, buddy. Things are looking up. (I know one person that will appreciate this, and I might sound like a hypocrite, but it is OK to be in a bad mood. You are allowed to be sad. There are things that happen in your life that are unavoidable. But the true person in your comes out when you figure out how to deal with those issues and carry on with your own life.)

So go out there and walk to your next destination, throw on a grin even though you are having a crappy day, and raise your moral. And you can thank me for it later. 🙂 (See the awesome placement of the smiley face. I told you I was happy.)