Happy New Year Everyone. Wishing you a healthy and amazing 2021!
By now, we’ve all probably written our new year’s resolutions with renewed effort, energy and discipline to ensure we achieve all our goals. Goals such as; (a) losing weight; (b) getting healthy; (c) finding a job or a new job; (d) possibly relocating; (e) meeting the one (*wink wink*), travelling and so on, are usually top of our lists. While all these plans are great and will generally contribute to our mental wellbeing during the year, we should all aim to maintain the child within us. Now, what does this mean? “We should try to laugh more and be happy.”
There is a common myth that children laugh about 300 times a day and adults laugh about 20 times a day. While these numbers may not be accurate, the message is clear. As we grow older, we tend to laugh less and take life too seriously. This is mostly because our responsibilities and goals increase, and we are always looking to achieve more in different aspects of our lives. We can, however, try to laugh more while carrying our burdens and hoping for what is to come.
“So how can we laugh more?” Well, here are some of my tips:
- Be grateful – Take a moment each day to remember all the things we are grateful for. This exercise helps us to remember everything in our lives that is going well, and what we should be grateful for. It also gives us renewed hope and strength that at the end of the day, everything will fall into place.
- Watch a funny movie – Funny movies make us laugh, even when we are in the worst of moods. When someone shows us a funny scene or says something hilarious, no matter how much you try to hesitate, you find yourself laughing.
- Solo dance parties – Now this is one of my favorites. I love listening to happy music, and dancing alone in my room, car, or the park. Anywhere you feel safe, just dance, let it all out and be happy.
- Talk to people who make you feel safe and happy – We all have that one family member or friend that always leaves us in a better mood every time after we talk to them. Speak to people like these more.
- Exercise – It’s scientifically proven that exercising releases endorphins, which are known as “happy hormones”. These happy hormones interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain and triggers a positive feeling all over your body.
- Learn to let things go – Now this is something that I still struggle with but have personally seen the benefits of by taking baby steps. As we go through life, a lot of things will most likely not go our way. When this happens, we should learn to accept it and move on.
- Stay hopeful – Believe that what you want, or need will happen. Have faith that God has answered your prayers and act like it. This programs our brains to believe we have already received all our heart’s desires and in turn, makes us happy.
At the end of the day, we all have one life, so let us try to enjoy it and never let go of our inner child.