Stay Happy and Optimistic Every Day

How to have a more positive outlook on life and stay optimistic, stress free and mentally healthy.



How are you feeling at this very moment?If your answer is anything less than "content," the chances are that your state of angst is being caused by two elements that have nothing to do with the Here and Now; specifically, Yesterday and Tomorrow.Regrets about events that have occurred in the past and apprehensions about what could occur in the future have done more to immobilize otherwise healthy people than anything else in the world.






Want to break the pattern of needless worry and learn to rejoice in the present?The following tips will help you to get there.














YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW ARE NOT WITHIN YOUR CONTROL











Throughout our lifetimes there will be paths we will wish that we had taken or choices that we perceive would have been better ones for us to make.Unfortunately, life doesn't come with an instant replay button or a chance for do-overs.For as much time as one can spend daydreaming about the outcomes of a parallel universe, the less time accordingly becomes available for making good use of the decisions that brought us to our current juncture.Likewise, we can chew our fingernails down to the knuckles and wear a hole in the carpet in our pacing and forth and worrying whether we'll get a promotion, find lasting romance, or have a safe landing on our next plane trip.None of this zealous fretting, however, is going to have any influence on how other people think or whether our time on Earth will be of short or long duration.The question to ask yourself the next time you feel anxious is whether the cause of your worry is something that is within your immediate control to fix.If it isn't, let it go.










THE ONLY THING PREDICTABLE IS CHANGE










Oftentimes when we're deliriously happy, it's hard to imagine an occasion when we were really down in the dumps.The same can be said of being depressed; certainly whatever ecstasy we felt for something or someone once upon a happier time had to have been just a myth compared to the bereft state we're feeling now.The reality, of course, is that not only is life an ebb and flow of happy and sad but that this continuing cycle provides us with the proper frame of reference to appreciate the value of both emotions.If you're feeling troubled and life just doesn't seem as bright as you think it should be, sit down right now and make a list of the 10 happiest events that have ever happened to you.The odds are in this exercise that they either happened completely out of the blue (i.e., winning a prize) or were things that were the result of your own planning (i.e., a great vacation).The first instance shows that, at any moment, something unexpected could happen that will lift your spirits.The second demonstrates that you're entirely capable of orchestrating positive outcomes yourself; you just need to focus on what it is that you want and put your energy toward making it come about










THANKSGIVING YEAR-ROUND










Too often, people wait until Thanksgiving to take stock of all the blessings in their lives.Why be a slave to the calendar when you can take stock any day of the week?For that matter, you can even buy a turkey breast, make some dressing and potatoes, and celebrate Thanksgiving in July!One needs only to watch the news on television or read the daily newspaper to see examples of people around the world who are far less fortunate.Your house, your family, your job, your health""they may not be as perfect as you'd like them to be but take a moment each and every day and consider what your world would be like if all of these things were taken from you.The adage that we are never given more than we can handle holds especially true on the days when life has us down, for it is on those days that we discover our inner strength and our drive to make the next day better"¦and happier.










WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?










Make a list of ten things that really crack you up.Maybe it's a favorite funny TV show or movie.Maybe it's a friend who always has a great way of telling humorous stories.Maybe it's listening to your children or grandchildren explain the universe.Whatever it is, try to engage in at least one of your ten funny things every day.I even have a friend who started a clippings folder of favorite New Yorker cartoons, short stories, silly cards and jokes that she could pull out whenever she was feeling glum.The secret behind her strategy, of course, is that she always adds to the folder when she's on top of the world as a form of "rainy day insurance" for whenever she later feels the weight of that same world on her shoulders.










THE 5% THEORY










Have you ever dwelled on something for longer than the duration of the actual event itself?Relationships in particular fall into this category.Many an individual, for example, will be remorse for years over the break-up of an affair that only lasted 6 months.Likewise, people will stew needlessly over an incident at the office that happened three weeks ago and that everyone else has pretty much forgotten about.If you're guilty of this habit, it's keeping you from moving forward and being happy.Therefore, apply this simple formula: do not be angry, depressed or mopey for more than 5% of the total amount of time the event was actually occurring.Let's say you dated someone for 10 weeks and he or she then dumped you.Under the 5% theory, you're entitled to whine for 3.5 days.Longer than that and you are just making yourself miserable for no good reason.










TAKE A WALK










Staying indoors and dwelling on your problems won't make them vanish.Getting completely outside of yourself, however, will allow you to view things with a different perspective.You can accomplish this by putting on a good pair of walking shoes, grabbing either a jacket or pair of sunglasses and taking a walk.Even if you've lived in the same neighborhood for years, make a point of paying more attention to the trees, the flowers, the sky, the scent of the air.Engage in conversation with the people that you meet.Make up stories for yourself about the inhabitants of the houses or the passersby in cars.Watch a sunset.Count the stars.And when you come back inside, fix yourself whatever you consider to be the best "comfort food" on the planet.You deserve it!

On Being Beautiful, Inside and Out

We, as women, must strive to act beautifully if we want to feel beautiful. And when we act beautifully, the world becomes beautiful.

:: By Aimee Valentine

We make choices on a daily basis. Some are "good" (i.e. moral, ethical, healthy, or beneficial), some are "bad" (i.e. immoral, unethical, bad for my health, or detrimental in every way), and some choices we don't even realize we are making at the time.

We act out of habit, and out of comfort. It's understandable. We are human creatures, most of us. This year I want to resemble something closer to a human being. Someone who exists to embrace the spirit of living, to breathe, to expand.

I realize that this cannot be a New Year's resolution. First of all, it's a little late for such a sentiment, and secondly, I don't want to doom this idea to failure.

So here's my plan: I am going to be beautiful every day.

Sounds silly, I know. But I'm not talking about covering up my dark circles and wearing a lovely shade of blush while taking out the trash (although this would certainly go a long way), I mean that I want to make choices and behave in such a way that I feel beautiful every day.

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of feeling like a failure when it comes to being green. Yes, I recycle. Yes, I buy organic. Yes, I use ugly light bulbs. But I know it's not enough. It's not enough to be a green makeup artist, either. I can preach to you day and night about throwing out your chemical-laden, cancer-causing, planet-polluting makeup, and I can publicly endorse or eschew companies that claim to be green, but that's not going to make the world more beautiful.

We, as women, must strive to act beautifully if we want to feel beautiful. And when we act beautifully, the world becomes beautiful.

What does that mean, to "act beautifully"? For me, it means I don't want to cheat on myself anymore. I want to live with integrity — instead of this thing, this replacement for integrity which is so pervasive — this PC-ness of the green movement, this Modern Decency Law (the acknowledgement that the world is collapsing, and it is our duty to behave responsibly so as not to hasten our own demise), which many folks follow to the letter, ignoring the spirit altogether. I've encountered many "ugly" environmentalists. When there's a law, whether real or imagined, there are always loopholes, and it is our nature to obey social laws while exploiting the loopholes. We find ways to appear to do the right thing for all the wrong reasons.

What I want to do is ignore the law, and stop looking for loopholes! I want to act from a place which supercedes civilian code.

Instead of trying to do the "right" thing, I want to do the beautiful thing.

I believe beauty can save the world. But that's not my aim. I will champion beauty, for its own sake. I will strive to act as beauty would dictate. (Which will prove difficult — I have a mean temper, and a righteous indignation that creeps about looking for places to sink its teeth). I'm also profoundly lazy, a fact which I attempt to disguise by being "productive."

No more. My only mission now is to live beautifully. And busy bees are not beautiful. I will live with purpose. This probably means taking my time when I do things. I find that when I hurry (I'm a last minute kind of girl) I inevitably cut corners. Not beautiful.

You've been there: you're shopping for something or other, the store is jam packed with people, you're in a hurry. You don't see what you really want, so you settle for something else — because it will do. Aren't you tired of that? Aren't you sick of making do?

It's one thing to "make do with what you have"... a nice way to reduce consumption and live simply, or creatively; it's quite another thing to "make do" WHILE consuming! To "make do" because you ran out of time. To "make do" because you just want to get it done. To "make do" because you're ready to get married and he happens to be the guy you're dating. To "make do" because you don't know if you'll ever be able to make a living as an artist, and besides, middle management pays better.

Let us stop MAKING DO. Let us simply BE BEAUTIFUL.

We can do this by first examining our lifestyles, and becoming aware of times when we act in hollow ways. When we slight ourselves and each other — you've felt this before, a kind of pinging or aching in your gut. Maybe you've recently decided to eat at home more often (for your health, your budget, or to enhance your sensual experience), but you're ravenously hungry, you're tired, and there's a mediocre Chinese restaurant around the corner. (That was me, last night). So how do I feel today? More beautiful, for satisfying my insta-craving for sodium-heavy fried noodles? Nope. I actually feel a little dirty.

I love treating myself, but I gain more satisfaction from experiences chosen in the light of day (in a calm, detached manner), rather than fumbled for in the dark (when I'm more likely to make do, especially given a low blood sugar scenario).

And how about you? What are your weak spots? When do you find yourself settling for less-than-beautiful?

I intend to spend more time writing about this idea of Beauty (capital B). It is an intellectual and spiritual concept as old as civilization itself, and yet, somewhere along the way we became simple minded, distracted consumers. We are allowing ourselves to be "sold" beauty. But Beauty (capital B) isn't for sale. It is our task to manifest it.

I hope that we can share our ideas on this topic: I welcome your comments, experiences, and insights as we explore the path of Beauty of together. I will continue to post product reviews as well as cosmetic beauty tips, but I am now firm in my resolution to preach Beauty over beauty.

from GAIAM.com