6 Little Changes That Make Life Better Every Single Day
There will be days where life kind of stinks, but you can still work toward lasting happiness.
Dean Drobot | Canva Being happy can feel like a struggle — and sometimes you forget to look for joy around you. But instead of looking elsewhere in your pursuit of happiness, you need to know how to find wants to be happier every day and learn to love the little things in life. And that comes from one source only: You.
No matter who you are, there will be days (or weeks or months) where life kind of stinks, and love and happiness are nowhere in sight. In the back of your mind, you want to be happy. So, if you can remind yourself of this as a mantra: Love the life you live and live the life you love, you’ll find it can help shift your attitude and thinking. How do you live to love your life?
Here are 6 little changes that make life better every single day.
1. Have a positive attitude
The best way to have a remarkable experience is to develop positivity and acceptance in yourself. Whatever is going on, always think better times will come soon after all this. Positivity in thoughts and actions can resolve many problems in life. Try to look good in things and people while making concrete plans for the future. It will have a fantastic effect on yourself and the people around you. Besides, a positive attitude will always lead to days when you feel less cranky.
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2. Focus on the present rather than the past
Living in the present time is essential, as it is the most precious time of your life. The people and moments you have in the current time may disappear in the future. Often, you stress yourself out by ruminating over the past. You cannot change the past. So, when you choose to live to love your life as it is now, it opens the path to being, if not ecstatic, at least a little happier.
Taking lessons from past mistakes is good, but don’t lament them. Start loving your life by living in the moment and enjoying what you have.
3. Love yourself unconditionally
Loving yourself will always go a long way toward being happier. Because when you love yourself as you are, it allows you to better connect to what you want in life from a space of awareness, not self-judgment. While I know it’s not always easy to dismiss your inner critic, befriending her will go a long way toward loving yourself.
4. Learn to accept change
Often you delay decisions because you want to be certain and make a perfect choice. But nothing in life is ever a guarantee. And this is only one of the reasons you rail against change. Sometimes, you become dissatisfied with life because you feel like you’ve lost the sweet spot of your “glory days.” It can be challenging to experience happiness when you're disappointed that your life has changed. But let’s get real: Life is always going to change. And despite wishing things could always stay the same, it’s impossible.
When you take the attitude to live to love your life, it helps remind you that nothing is certain and life will always change. That is key to being happier.
5. Go for a walk
One of my go-to subscriptions for a grumpy day is to hit the pavement. Whether you are a runner or a walker, there is something especially grounding about heading out for a walk. You expose yourself to nature, and it will help you feel better. Researchers found patients healed a day faster simply by seeing nature outside of their hospital window.
Regular time in nature will help you recharge and heal your body. And your attitude. There’s something almost magical about putting the excess negative energy from your body into the earth to absorb it.
6. Make gratitude a practice
A gratitude practice has been shown to help you form new (positive) pathways in your mind. And if you want to live to love your life, then beginning a gratitude practice will help you change your attitude.
Begin with five minutes a day on gratitude. You can keep it super simple by using either a small notebook or a stack of index cards. Write down three to five things you’re grateful for each day. And, over time, you’ll see the magic in the process.
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I’m the first to admit that when you want to live to love your life, you will have a bad day. That’s because you’re human.
The key to being a little happier is not to allow a grumpy day to turn into a series of bad days. And while life will never be all light, love, and flowers every moment, a change in attitude is more helpful than it seems on the surface. What you discover is a little bit happier today goes a long way toward a life of grumpiness or a life of joy.
Debra Smouse is a life coach and author whose work has been published in TIME, Huffington Post, MSN, Psychology Today, and more.