[SheilaKathy]

There are actually 5 things you can do each day to achieve or increase your happiness! In other words, you can improve your mood. Here is a video about it:

These things are:

1. Write down 3 new things you are grateful for each day, and why?

2. Exercise in such a way that you are doing more of it than usual or trying new ways in which to do it. Then keep doing these new things day after day.

3. Journal about a positive experience you have had in the last 24 hours.

4. Meditation or deep listening prayer can also qualify.

5. A Random Act of Kindness.

I think it has been said many times that if you can carry out a new thing for more than 21 (or maybe it was 28) days, then it becomes a habit. Wouldn't these be great habits to keep?

I've been trying to do this and I hope that some of you will join me. Feel free to share about your experiences in doing this here if you do try it. You can share every day, or just when you feel something extraordinary has occurred in your life.

ENJOY!

[Sunflower123]

I will be adding these to my routine. Thanks for sharing. Great ideas.

[Wild Coyote]

This is great information!
Thanks so much for sharing!

I watched some interesting documentaries recently about some well known philosophers throughout history. One called "Genius of the Ancient World" about Buddha, Socrates and Confucius and the Other called "Genius of the Modern World" featuring Nietzsche, Marx and Frued. The one thing they all had in common was trying to figure out a way to maximize personal growth and satisfaction. Self help books follow this time honored tradition of claiming to figure out answers to the biggest questions plaguing man throughout time. I'm very interested in hearing the thoughts of those who think outside of traditional thought. However nothing answers or solves my issues of dilemmas and often provide more questions than answers. I wish these suggestions could cure me but they cannot. When I'm well enough I do them instinctively but when unwell I'm incapable. When unwell doing these things would leave me more frustrated than satisfied and that would not increase my happiness. Power to those who are helped by these things......I wish I were amongst them and satisfied or pacified with a simple list of 5 short to-do's.

When I'm well I focus on gratitude and believe it serves me well. The person most served by self help books is the author who financially benefits from creating them. I'm sorry I'm so pessimistic.....I'm hurting, in pain and have no choice but to suffer. I lose my mind sometimes and it's hardly easy to be grateful for it. I'm grateful I have most of my sanity at current but I can't let go of the fear I will lose it forever and be doomed to be abused by people who have no idea how to care for people like me.

I do wish there were a book with real answers .....I will keep reading and hoping but I fear the answers we really need will never come.

[Wild Coyote]

Painful truths.

I can relate, Elsa.

(((((( Elsa ))))))

I think, deep down, many can relate. Possibly, deep down, all can relate?

I've done a lot of searching. Even so, I am largely ignorant and I don't find the state of ignorance "blissful."

I wish we all had the answers we feel we need, in order to fully escape fear and/or suffering.

In the meantime, we tend to keep trying to find what we think we need, that which may help us to truly heal.


WC

[SheilaKathy]

I say if a person is up to doing these things they should try, before they write them off as unworkable or unobtainable. I've done these things in my life many a time, for 3-4 weeks at a shot and they do improve mood substantially. I would not have share this here if it did not work!

[Daonnachd]

I'm with you, Elsa. When I'm down I can do none of those five things, and I've tried them all. For me, all that happens if I try while depressed is that I feel worse about myself for having failed in yet another way.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

Agree with Vertigo. Well said.

[SheilaKathy]

Well, if you want to share with me about how it goes, feel free to drop me a private message, I'd be happy to hear about it! I can share my activities about it with you too, of course, if you would like.

Originally Posted by Jennifer 1967

I will be adding these to my routine. Thanks for sharing. Great ideas.

[SheilaKathy]

Originally Posted by Wild Coyote

This is great information!
Thanks so much for sharing!

If you happen to want to share with me about how it goes, feel free to drop me a private message, I'd be happy to hear about it! I can share my activities about it with you too, of course, if you would like.

[SheilaKathy]

If you only feel up to doing one or two of the things on the list, I believe even that could improve your mood. So feel free to share any of your adventures doing these things here at any time. Or private message me if you feel that something you have done is more of a thing that you want to share privately with one person who is in the know on this HAPPINESS THING. I will share some of the things here now that I have done this week:

As a Random Act of Kindness, I noticed that our exercise leader's chair had been moved, so I moved it back to where it is supposed to be so that he would not have to do it.

I wished two ladies a happy holiday weekend who live in a nursing home and were about to leave our Senior Center to return there for the weekend. I made sure to smile at both of them and they smiled back at me, which made me feel really good.

During Exercise:

I used weights this week, which I have never done before. Usually I just do our Senior Center Exercise Program without them, but doing it with them was not a lot more difficult.

I also tried to hold in my gut, which is something that anyone can do any time. This might help to reduce fat build-up in that area of the body.

Positive Experience:

Someone came over to me and told me how happy he was that I told off a bully who has been bullying the both of us for months. He said he was happy I put the guy in his place, because he then did not have to do it. This made my day, in fact it made my week!

Meditation or Prayer: I included my awareness of my Creator during exercise. I rarely think of much of anything while doing exercise, but the exercise itself. This time I did some mindfulness meditation while working out too.

Some things I am grateful for this week:

This forum, which I just discovered this week. I am learning about it and how to use it to help me in my Bipolar moods.

A book I am reading called CODEPENDENCY NO MORE by Melody Beatie which is telling me all about the side of my life that I had no clue existed.

September is here. I love this time of year!

There's lots more, but these are the highlights!

[SheilaKathy]

I did a Random Act of Kindness yesterday. I went into our laundry room in the apartment building I live in and I noticed that the dryer light was ON, but the machine was not running. I was puzzled by this for a moment, not really realizing what it meant. Then it occurred to me that the RESTART button needed to be pushed. So I did it. I have no idea whose laundry was in there, but I figured the least I could do for a neighbor was to keep their laundry going for them. Our dryer is old....

[SheilaKathy]

My Positive Moment was yesterday, going to a relatively new store in town that sells salt lamps, fragrances and healing stones, among other assorted interesting things. I got to have a nice long conversation with one of the owners, a lady, and we spoke at length about the 100% Total Eclipse here and how it had affected our town and how awesome it was to see. We both agreed that it had been one of the most miraculous things we'd ever seen, if not the most magnificent thing indeed at all that we'd ever witnessed.

We spoke of healing stones and I bought several of them from her. She took the time to explain for me what each stone is good at helping a person with, and even xeroxed off some information from books for me about the stones I purchased.

Exercise was walking all the way to her store and back, also to the drug store.

Gratitudes were:

1. My Medicare Drug Plan paid for 100% of my new prescription, no co-pay at all! The one it replaces is on National back order indefinitely, so I was so relieved twice over, once for having any medicine at all and twice for not having to pay a penny for it!!!

2. I slept well last night, woke up feeling refreshed and rejuvinated.

3. My radio station that I love to listen to and the radio I bought so that I could pick it up. Living WAY out in the boonies, we only have one radio station that I was able to get. This radio is a very special one that is very powerful, so it picks up the Classical station that is over 2 hours away from here by car. So I can hear what I love to hear, virtually commercial free too!

My Random Act was here on the Forum, starting a thread for something that should help to cheer us all up.

Meditation was about a young boy of 2 years old who has a rare genetic condition and for the Dr.s and his parents. He is such a strong, indomitable spirit, facing the most impossible odds. Such a brave and cheerful little boy is he!

So, you see, these are really simple things, uplifting things, not difficult to do. And like I said, if you can only do one or two things per day, that's OK too, trying is what matters. You will never know if you can do any of these things if you don't try.