Five Ways To Feel Happy When Life Sucks

We've all had days when we wake up on the wrong side of the bed. Nothing goes right, and we’re stuck in a funk. It’s like we have a dark cloud following us around with the constant threat of rain. These are the days when life just sucks.

Here are five things that I think about or do to make myself happy when life sucks...

Say the F-word every other word - F-ing dishes in the f-ing sink f-ing yet again. No one ever thinks to f-ing put them in the f-ing dish washer. How f-ing hard is it? Why is the f-ing car in front of me driving so slow? Why is my f-ing computer so slow? Okay, so it doesn’t make you feel positive about the situation, but it does help you to feel oh so much better!

Make faces - There's something called the "Facial Feedback Hypothesis", which says that whatever face you make will affect how you feel. Usually, it works the other way around. If you're grouchy, you scowl; if you're happy, you smile. However, this works both ways. If you want to feel happy and cheerful, force yourself to smile. Hold that expression for 10 seconds. Repeat as needed. It's almost like engaging the "smile muscles" activates the "happy section" of your brain associated with smiling.

Sing and dance -  Hide out in your home, put on a happy song, and dance and sing along like you mean it. If you don't know the words to a song, look up the lyrics and read them as you sing or make up your own lyrics as you go along. For your dancing, do a silly novelty dance like the robot, chicken dance, moon walker the macarena. The key with this step is to let loose. The wackier, the better. Even if you feel awful, just pretend you're an obnoxiously happy person and you'll improve your mood by several notches. If you dare, record yourself doing this with a video camera and watch it so you can laugh at your crazy silliness.

Think about how things could be much worse - Whenever I find myself worrying about household finances, feeling frustrated about work, or dismal about life in general, I think about how much worse my life would be if I was…

• Having surgery and could feel all of the pain, but could not wake up to tell the good doctor
• Being eaten alive by piranha or an alligator or both at the same time
• The last person alive on Earth and could only stay alive by eating earthworms
• Being forced to watch Barney videos for days at a time "I love you, you love me, we're a happy family"!

Think long term- If the present moment is a miserable one, then this is the one time you want to take yourself to the future. Remind yourself that your pain is temporary. My mother often tells me, “This too shall pass.” And, usually, it does. I also like to remind myself, “What doesn’t kill me will only make me stronger.” No matter what hardships we suffer, we tend to emerge stronger, healthier, and more balanced once they are over. Hardship teaches us how to survive. It teaches us resilience. It teaches us courage. I’m not suggesting you ignore problems that you can work on and solve. I’m only suggesting that there is always an end to the misery.

Make Happy Everyday Print by Sun In My Chest via Etsy

What makes you happy when life sucks?