13 ways to have a happier, healthier and more positive life
I’ve been thinking lately a lot about how to get the most out of life and have a more positive life. See I like my life. I’m blessed in a lot of ways and I have a good life. The thing is that no matter who you are it can get better. I believe you can always better yourself and make your life even better. We can always reach for more joy and try to achieve more in our lives. So let’s talk about how to have a happier, healthier and more positive life.
I’ve only been in my 30’s for a little over a year now but so far so good. My 20’s were a hard decade. I went through a lot, adjusting to marriage. Then having a baby that in itself is a huge life altering change. Though nothing brings me more pleasure and happiness than my daughter the first couple years of motherhood were a struggle at times. My marriage struggled in those first years, then I had my stroke at 25. So the last five years of my 20’s took me down a different and unique path. Different than most people go through during that decade in their lives.
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So now that I’m still in the beginning of my 30’s I want to be proactive and plan on doing everything I can to make my life even better. To be more special and live each one of these years, months and days of this decade to the best of my ability. Really make my 30’s the decade I look back on and think those days were some of the best days of my life.
Having a better life is about making better choices and the although I am more than aware that we can’t control everything that happens to us We do have more power than we think and there are choices we can make every day have a better life. Starting with remembering this. Better doesn’t mean perfect. I want a better life and to keep making it better but I don’t ever think my life will be perfect because I don’t think that it’s possible for everything to be perfect.
1 Share your feelings with others:
I have found that when I hold on to what is hurting or bothering me and keep it inside. It eats away at me and brings me down. So when I am hurting and feeling bad about someone or something one of the best things for me to do is to share these feelings with someone. Keeping it all in is toxic and letting it out clears away some of those toxins and makes me feel better. Opening up and sharing what I’m struggling with also brings me closer to the people I share with.
2. Embrace the things that bring you joy:
Whatever it is that brings you joy you need to embrace that and give yourself the moments where you let yourself do the things that make you happy just because you need that happiness in your life. Depriving yourself of joy because you think you don’t have time will make you miserable and what’s the point if you are always miserable and unhappy. Taking time to relax and do the things you enjoy are so important and will make you a better and more productive person.
3.Get enough sleep:
This is so utterly important. Your body will perform better and you will be healthier if you get the rest your body needs. It’s hard to be positive if you are cranky from not enough sleep. It’s not a sign of strength to be someone who is going 24/7. In my opinion, it’s a sign of weakness because you are saying everything else is more important than I am so I’m going to keep on going even if it’s hurting me. Your life and your productivity will suffer if you are too tired to do your best work.
4. Have pets:
Not everyone is a pet person but I always have been and my animals bring such joy to my life. We are especially feeling this now with a new puppy at home. We got him 3 weeks ago and although he is a lot of work his presence is such a joy to our family and he makes us all so happy. Here is information on the health benefits of having pets.
5. Replace negative thoughts with Positive thoughts:
This one isn’t easy and I get that but it will make such a difference if you make the effort to start working on it. The way I do this is to just monitor my thoughts. If I notice that I’m feeling more negative than normal and thinking negative thoughts I will try and replace those thoughts with more positive thoughts and feelings. Here is an article on positive thinking.
6 Eliminate stressors in your life:
I’ve found that these can be people or places or specific situations. My stressors will be different than yours will be. It took me time to figure out what mine are and what I need to deal with them. There are certain people in my life that I need to really enforce strict boundaries with because if I don’t I can be walked over by them and they can hurt me.
So for my sanity and health, I have to make sure I have rules in place of what I will and won’t tolerate and also limits placed on time spent. It took me awhile to realize that for my own happiness I have to be careful how and with who I spend my time. Not everyone needs to have a place in your life and if there are people who bring you more pain and stress than joy maybe it’s time to eliminate or at least reduce the time spent with those people.
7. Remember not everything is as big of a deal as it seems:
This is so true but sometimes so hard to remember. It is something that I really started to understand after my health crisis. After going through a major health issue you become aware of how unimportant and insignificant so many things we obsess and worry over truly are. So try and remember this when something is bothering you. In the big picture of life is it really that important or can you let it go. The fact is that a lot of things we worry and stress over won’t even matter to us in a few weeks. So try and take the time to think about if something is really a big deal or only feels like a big deal in the moment.
8. Walk more:
This is one that I know is true but I don’t do enough of. Walking or getting more exercise is so important not only for your physical health but also for your emotional health and well-being. This is one area of my life that I am going to try to work on improving. Starting small with just increasing my physical activity a little bit at a time and getting myself to move more.
9. Help others:
For me, one of the best ways for me to feel better about myself and my life is to do something to help someone else. Even if it’s something small and doesn’t take a lot of effort on my part. Knowing that I helped someone out and made their life a little easier is an incredible mood booster.
10.Smile and laugh more:
There is a reason why they say laughter is the best medicine. There are plenty of studies and research that support the health benefits and mood-boosting powers of smiling and laughing more. So do it more. Find something funny to watch when you are feeling down and need to feel better. For me, episodes of The Office are a great choice.
11. Drink more water and eat better:
Another area of my life where I know that if I put more effort into doing it more my life would be better. There is plenty to support the benefits and powers of healthy eating and drinking more water. It’s just a matter of me doing it more and making it a priority in my life.
12. Celebrate your victories and accomplishments:
This is an area I really do a good job with most of the time. There are going to be bad things and disappointments in your life, that’s just part of life and it can become easy to focus on those negatives sometimes. That’s why it’s so important to really celebrate lives accomplishments and victories. The more you train yourself to focus on what you do right the less you will focus on what goes wrong.
13. Set goals for yourself:
Having goals to keep you moving forward is incredibly important to having a happy life. Setting goals towards achieving your dreams and getting the life you dream of will make it more likely that you will get that life. It’s a matter of setting goals and working on the steps needed to make those goals a reality.
So there you have it. Some of my best tips and advice. I hope that by doing these 13 things you will have a happier, healthier and more positive life. You can do it and no matter what has stopped you before I know the future can be brighter.
