As a follow-up to the post “25 Simple Ways to be Healthy,” here are 25 simple, inexpensive ways to be happy.
Pet a dog or cat. It’s very good for your heart and your pet’s.
Go first. Even if you don’t know all the rules of a game, or have to order first in a restaurant, just do it. You’ll be very pleased with yourself.
Do a random act of kindness for someone.
Buy a sunflower. How can you be unhappy when you look at a beautiful, silly sunflower?
Volunteer. Help a teacher put up a new theme on a bulletin board, or read to a student, or stock shelves at a food bank.
Go play with your kids. Attempt a cartwheel, swing on a swing set, play basketball, or build a fort out of blankets and couch cushions. Forget housework; it’ll wait.
Listen to your kind of music. Even if it’s from the ’70s or ’80s, it’ll make you happy and upbeat.
Clean up one pile of junk. You will be ecstatic if you work through the pile and see the bottom.
Bake a loaf of bread. Can anyone not be falling over in happiness when they smell freshly baked bread?
Start dancing. Or walking, or running. Exercise releases endorphins and makes you feel superior to everyone else.
Do one thing that you’ve been putting off. Need to make that dentist appointment or study for your driver’s license? Do it and you will feel incredibly proud of yourself. Finally-did-it.
Call or e-mail a friend. We need human connections.
Forget your ‘to do’ list and plop on the bed and read.
Listen to how small children talk. It goes by so fast, so listening to toddlers and little kids talk will make you sentimentally happy.
Drive home taking a new route. Oh sure, it’s a bit nerve wracking, but it’s great for your brain and your senses.
Compliment someone. Bring a smile to another person’s face for instant happiness.
Smile. Plaster a smile on your face just to see the reactions of others. My mom would smile, because she said if you smiled, almost everyone smiled back.
Be alone. Take time to just be with yourself, by yourself.
Go to someplace quiet. Quiet is calming and maybe that’s why people like to spend so much time in bookstores.
Eat raw cookie dough or a spoonful of brownie mix. Or go buy some Twinkies. A little sugary bite makes everyone happy.
Fly a kite.
Put your feet in water. Whether it’s taking a bath, going swimming, wading in a river or putting your toes in the ocean, water is so restorative.
As soon as you are old enough, join the Red Hat Society.
Go hiking or camping. Build a campfire, sing corny songs, and make some s’mores.
Turn off the news. If you miss anything, they’ll be more bad news the next day.
Band together in a community. Go pick up trash for Earth Day, celebrate your faith or spirituality, collect goods for our troops, or donate a huge collection of all your old stuff and give it away.
