How you think inside is how you are externally. If inside you’re negative, don’t be fooled: people see you as negative. If inside you’re positive, even when you’re sad, you light up any room you enter. Here’s the thing: you have some control over your attitude, you have no control over the environment in which you live.
By now you know: life isn’t easy, and there is always something to be sad about. However, the saddest person on the planet may not be as depressed as you. If you don’t believe that, look at this video. In Nigeria, there’s a slum with over 200,000 people living atop literal sewage. There are children swimming in that sewage, and they’re not just healthy, they’re happy.
It’s insane, and it may turn your stomach, so be advised. The point is, they’re living in abject poverty of the worst kind, yet they’re not only smiling, they don’t even know they should be sad. We were all youthful young ones like that at one time, until the cares of life took over and stole our joy. How can they be wiser in their impoverished youth than we as mature adults?
Throughout the world, first-world citizens are often more sad than those in the worst poverty. But when you realize how blessed you are even to have the ability to read, or use cutting edge tech you own, that can help you have a better attitude, and wake up with a smile daily. Here are other tactics to help you be happier every day, from the moment you wake.
Have a Healthy Morning Routine
Wake up, make your bed, spend some time with your family, talk about the week behind and what’s ahead for you, and then start your day. If you don’t live with anybody, maybe put on some sort of music, or an inspirational speaker you resonate with.
Whatever works, do that thing. Have a healthy morning routine that’s familiar, and good for your emotional wellbeing.
Start the Day Off With a Solid Breakfast
Part of your morning routine should involve a healthy breakfast, even if that breakfast is just a cup of coffee with heavy cream. Oatmeal is a good idea, and there’s a way to prepare oatmeal with an egg that’s got a savory quality to it.
You’re full, energetic, and more satisfied from the start, helping you start your day off with a subconscious joy that permeates through the day.
Change Your Mattress – Especially if You’re Part of a Couple
Sometimes you’ve got a great attitude, but there’s something which makes it hard for you to sustain that attitude. Chronic pain can be pushed to the back of your mind, but when any stressful situation manifests, that pain will jump right to the front of your thinking. If you can eliminate chronic pain, that helps.
When you’re part of a couple, if you’ve got a bad mattress, both of you wake up with some sort of chronic pain that influences your mental wellbeing. A simple fix might be to just get a new mattress. Here’s a good mattress for couples, if you’re not sure where to start looking.
Exercise on a Daily Basis
Exercise releases endorphins into your bloodstream, and these lead to more happy thinking overall. Additionally, proper exercise positions your metabolism for more healthy operation, and you become more physically appealing, which has a positive psychological effect on how you perceive yourself overall, leading to increased personal joy. It’s a cumulative win-win.
Think in Healthy Ways
What you think about influences your mental wellbeing, we touched on this earlier. Think on beautiful things, and you’ll be perceived that way. Put your mind in the dark recesses of reality, and you’ll follow that thinking into depressing activities. Whatever is good and pure and beautiful and worthwhile, this is the flavor of meditation you want to pursue.
Being Naturally Joyful
Thinking in healthy ways, exercising regularly, changing your mattress, getting some solid nutrition into you at the beginning of the day, and incorporating a good morning routine represent five very worthwhile ways you can help yourself start each day with a smile. It can take a few weeks to properly incorporate such habits, but you’ll be glad you did.
Sarah Kaminski is a life enjoyer, positivity seeker, and a curiosity enthusiast. She is passionate about an eco-friendly lifestyle and adores her cats. She is an avid reader who loves to travel when time allows.
Image courtesy of Miriam Alonso.
