Who’s responsible for your happiness?

If you’re happy we say you’re joyful, smiling, tickled pink, in a good mood, cheery, or on cloud nine. There’s lots of sayings that mean “happy.”

You don’t have to be rich to be happy. Having a lot of stuff doesn’t cause people to be happy. There are people in many parts of the world who possess much, much less than you or I do. Yet, those people are happy. Happiness comes from inside you.

Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States, once said, “Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.”

That’s a powerful statement. You’re in control of your happiness!  Here’s what the experts say we can do to stay happy:

1. Get physical. Go outside. You could ride your bike, hop on your skateboard, shoot some hoops, play baseball or softball, do gymnastics, go sledding or ice skating. If you are unable to do those things because of a health condition, try to get outside, if possible. Perhaps play a board game with friends or draw something fun in your own neighborhood.
2. Friends. That’s another way to stay happy. Have good friends. I think a few good pals is more important than having lots of “friends” who aren’t really friends.
3. Help others. Doing things for others makes us happy. For ideas you could sniff around the Zeller Cellar Smellers and click on #3.

How do you try to stay happy?  What do you do when something negative happens?