Happiness is clearly measured in scoops and sprinkes

I was on the How Stuff Works site and I came across a list of 10 things that can increase one’s happiness. I figured this is a good way to cheer you guys up seeing that it’s back to school / end of summer time.

Here are a few of my favourite happiness-enhancing things:

Problem Solving: Being able to recognize a problem and trying to solve it as soon as possible will decrease stress and increase happiness. Evaluating the seriousness of a problem is also a biggie because some issues can be overlooked without harm being done. 

Keep It Simple, Stupid: I try and live by this one as much as possible. With more accessible technology, we are able to do more with less. We tend to juggle more than people did a decade ago because we feel the need to stay busy all the time. Instead of becoming a stress-case, why not do a bit of prioritizing. Put more emphasis on the things that mean the most to you and cut out all of the extra garbage that takes up your time. Also, try and do things one at a time. Yes, it may save time completing several tasks at once but you often miss out on valuable experiences. I’m looking at you, texters. Just because you’re physically with your friends doesn’t mean you’re hanging out with them if your eyes are glued to your cell phone. Not cool.

Work It Out: Exercising lowers the hormones associated with stress. This, however, does not mean you should spend your life in the gym; a jog around the block will do the trick. I guess I should dust off my running shoes OR I can just blame a bad mood on a lack of fitness. Only time will tell.

Nature Calls: Studies have shown that the more one interacts with nature, the lesser the chances they will acquire certain illnesses. Leave it up to the scientists to state the obvious. Spending more time outdoors is comforting in a way. It’s our natural habitat and a nice distraction from our terrible technology addictions.

Ice Cream: Okay, this is not on the How Stuff Works list but come on. I see a direct connection between Ice Cream and being happy. Just this weekend, I had a delicious Marble Slab cone of chocolate and raspberry goodness and boy, did I feel euphoric!

Happiness may not be a fish you can catch but who wants a stinky fish anyways?

Makes Cents (12)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 8th, 2009 at 1:00 pm and is filed under Going Out, Living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Tags: Happiness, how stuff works, Romi Levine, Screw You Recession