4 small ways to be happier

There’s no overnight solution to be happier. Happiness manifests from inside your mind. Only you can control this feeling. There are many small ways to change your mindset to have more positive thoughts. This will over time will increase your feeling of happiness.

1. Replace your negative thoughts with positive ones

It is so much easier to think of all the negative thoughts instead of the positive ones. For example, every time something goes wrong or does not go as planned, we as humans tend to respond angrily, negatively, and irrationally because our emotions are controlled by our feeling of anger. I tend to often question, “Why did this happen to me?” “What did I do to deserve this?” I learned that instead of feeling sorry for myself, I needed to replace these thoughts acknowledging what happened and trying to move on from it. When something does not go my way, I pause and change my thoughts. It did not come naturally, but my brain started to do this more easily on its own. I began accepting everything that did not go my way instead of dwelling on it because that leads to more negative feelings in the future.

2. Find out the root of your unhappiness

How are you going to change your negative thoughts if you don’t know what caused them in the first place? Negative thoughts, like positive ones, accumulate and don’t happen overnight. If you don’t know what is preventing you from being happy, find out by

• Talking to a trusted friend

• Talking to a family member

• A therapist

• Writing your thoughts down in a journal

You need to understand your thoughts before you begin changing them.

3. Take action over your thoughts

Remember that YOU, only you can control what you're feeling. No one else can. Only you can CHOOSE whether to feel sad, happy, angry, embarrassed or anything in between. You have full control of your mind.

4. Have control over your life

Only YOU have the power over YOUR life. You are your own person - never let anyone walk over or define you. You decide what goes on in your life, only you. No one else. In order to have gradual control over your life, here are some helpful tips:

• Cut out all the negative energy from your life

-that meaning a negative friend who puts you down or anything that does not add happiness to your life

• Do things that make YOU happy

• Put yourself first

-it’s okay to cancel plans once in a while to spend time bettering you

• Be around positive people that add more to your life

• Never be afraid to voice your opinion or say no to something you do not want to do

These are just a few tips to be happier. Happiness is a mental skill that you can not master overnight. You have to change your mindset by following these tips and over time it will be easier to rid these negative thoughts. It is impossible to rid all negative thoughts.

Writer: Sheldi Kyin

Editor: Meghana Nakkanti

Graphic Designer: Rebecca Chang

Photographer: Leighton Gammage