How can I be more happy?

Earlier this week, I received a text message from a young friend of mine - she is in her teenage years and was asking me how she could fill her mind with good and be more happy.

I think this is a common question for everyone alive! How can I be more happy? How can I live with a more positive outlook?

There are volumes of books on this subject and endless Experts who claim to have the answers.

I believe the quest to find the answer will vary from person to person as our journeys are not all the same and the challenges we face are just as diversified.

Here are a few things that I have discovered that have helped me fill my mind and life with happiness - 

1. Pray. Never underestimate the power of prayer. If you have never said a prayer before - I encourage you to try it. Say it in your heart or say it out loud. Offer a prayer to our loving Heavenly Father who loves you beyond our greatest imaginings. Ask to feel His love for you. Pause and feel the overwhelming love that will fill your heart and mind.

2. Look for the joy in your life! It is there. Even on the darkest days, there is joy. Go outside and feel grateful for this beautiful world we live in. Give thanks for the sun, the sky, the air we breathe and the ground we walk on. Gratitude opens the heart and the mind to receive the good things around us.

3. Keep a happiness journal. I love to write. It is a great source of therapy and joy for me. I use 3x5 cards often! In fact I have piles of them in my kitchen drawer. I love to doodle on them and jot down happy moments! I call it my 3x5 moments!

4. Color. Call. Catch up! Coloring is a major stress release. It causes our brains to be creative and releases pent up stress. Try it! Grab the crayons and color. Calling a friend is another way to be happy. Just hearing another's voice can break you out of your doom and gloom funk! Catch up with a loved one is another great way to fill your mind with goodness. Reach outside of yourself and feel the joy. These above mentioned actions require us to look outside of our self. This is good. When we want to be more happy - the answer is to lift another person!

5. Dump the negatives. I can't stress this enough. Life is too short and wonderful to spend it surrounded with negative energy. Be the happy force and don't participate in the negative stuff that pulls you down. Walk away. Turn it off. Hold your light high. Make it a goal to always be the one who shares the positive energy in the room. Always.

6. Read the Scriptures! They are there for us and our day. They will give you strength and fill you with added insight and inspiration to press forward.

Filling the mind with goodness takes effort and work - but all great things do!
You got this ...  LIVE a life you LOVE while becoming the best you possible.

Turn on your happy light - see the joy around you!
Help others see the joy as well.

Hold your light high.