#1 Maintaining Happiness

Happiness can not always be maintained. Life happens, things happen. Don’t feel pressured to constantly feel happy and content because that just is not realistic. Even the happiest people have their hard times. Although, you can always feel the content feeling of happiness no matter what life brings you.

There are many things you can do to stay happy depending on what you find your happiness in. But here are a few general ideas to help when life becomes a little hard.

Exercise More: Exercising releases the good mood endorphins to make one feel immediately better about themselves and their lives.

Thinking Positively: This one is a given. But think outside of the box, think about when you do a project and don’t get the grade you were wanting. Still be proud of what you earned and be happy because you worked hard for the grade you earned.

Get Rid of Negative Thoughts: Another given. But seriously, let it go. Nothing will bring you down more than yourself. Negative thoughts have been proven to bring a negative view on life which can cause a negative life. Which no one wants. So think happy(:

Treasure Your Experiences: Thomas Gilovich, a psychologist at Cornell University has done quite a lot of research as to why it is better to treasure memories rather than materialistic things. The results were that treasuring memories brings longer happiness because these belong to us, and can not be something taken away from us. Gilovich’s study also showed that memories are not nearly as destructive as materialistic things. So treasure the memories, because those will always be there. Find happiness on your memories. Don’t dwell.