#013 - 10 Ways To Be Happier

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.” 

Mother Theresa

One of the best ways to achieve happiness is to give more to others. Here's a list of 10 things, in no specific order, you could give to help make your day and someone elses a little bit brighter.

1. Smiles - Give a smile and get a smile, this is usually how it goes. Some people don't smile back but when someone does it always makes my smile even bigger for the next person.
2. A helping hand - When you see someone struggling with something, offer them a hand. It could be a lady with a baby trying to carry something too big or an old person putting their groceries in the car.
3. A letter of appreciation - Is there someone you know who deserves to be appreciated? Let them know by writing them a letter, this includes emails or facebook messages.
4. Post-it Notes - This is an extrapolation on point number 4 where you write a Post-it Note stating "You are great because..." and stick it on the desk of a co-worker or someone you live with.  Some examples might be " You are great because you always have a pen I can borrow" or " You are great because you always ask me if I would like a coffee too" or even "I love the way you laugh"
5. Help an elderly neighbour - If you have any elderly neighbours, find out if there is anything you could help them with. Maybe when you're ducking up to the shop to get some milk you could ask if they needed anything too. 
6. Pay for coffee - Next time you are buying a coffee ask if you can pay for two coffees, the second one being for the next person who orders one.
7. Give a cold drink - Have you ever seen someone working in a hot environment? It could be the lollypop person at a road works site, the lifeguard at the beach or the electrician working in your roof. Offer them a cold bottle of water to see the grateful smiles you get.
8. Hugs - The embrace of another human being would have to be one of the greatest things on Earth. We all need physical contact but unfortunately many people don't get much. Pay attention tomorrow to how many people you actually touch in a day, you may be surprised at how few it is. Try to incorporate a bit more physical contact in your interactions with other people and, if possible, give hugs.
9. Be kind to yourself - Do something good for yourself every day. Being kind to others is part of bringing happiness but you are the most important person in your life so you must be kind to yourself too. Good things for your body might mean drinking a glass of cold water, eating a banana or a mini facial. Good things for your mind could be telling yourself a positive affirmation, forgiving yourself for something you wish you had not done or finding the time to meditate for 10 minutes. 
10. Ring your Mum - The one person in my life who is always happy to hear from me is my Mum. Even if I only call to say hello and talk for five minutes I know it makes her happy for much longer than the call took.