7 Hacks to Maintain a Happy State of Mind

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I am often asked, “How do you stay so happy all the time?” Well the short answer is, “I don’t.” We all have times that involve “unhappy” emotions including sadness, despair, frustration or anger just to name a few. Life is full of cycles. Feeling the full range of emotions as you go through life is part of being human. No one is happy ALL of the time. The difference between “happy” people and people who are not happy is that “happy” people recognize that happiness is a choice. While we may feel sad or depressed, happy people choose not to set up camp and put down roots in that unhappy state, marinating in those unhappy emotions. It is not always easy but it is possible to move through tough times with a smile on your face.

When feeling unhappy emotions acknowledge them and even embrace these emotions, but set a limit. It is not going to help to ignore or deny how you are feeling. We must acknowledge the emotion and experience the related feelings that go with it in order to move through that emotion. However, also set a limit for yourself. Be it 10 minutes or an evening depending on the magnitude of the upset, only allow yourself to wallow in unhappiness for a set period. This does require you to exercise your willpower and to recognize that you are in charge of your emotions, not the other way around. When it is time to take control and move out of an unhappy state try the following hacks to shift back into a happy state of mind and allow the unhappy emotion to pass.

Choose Your Thoughts

Become a conscious creator of your own reality. Choose what you think about. What you think about repeatedly tends to manifest in your physical reality. You have control over what that is! Be aware of your thoughts. When you find yourself thinking about something you do not want, something that makes you sad or something that is stressful make the conscious choice to think another thought. This can be done by reframing the thought into something more positive or by replacing the thought entirely with a positive mantra or a completely different positive mental image. Choose not to keep playing those depressing mental movies that keep bringing you down over and over again in your mind. With a little practice you will find replacing unhappy thoughts with happier ones comes easier and easier as you learn to consciously choose what you think about.