Feeling down? – No worries, everybody does every once in a while. Which is why we’ve compiled a list of things that will make you happier. Go on and smile. Life’s too short to be sad.

1. Be thankful
There’s always something you can be thankful for. Whether that’s your body that is working every single second to keep you alive or the people you love and their health and well-being or the nice cup of tea on your desk.

2. Smile
Whenever you smile for no reason, the whole world conspires in order to give you a real reason to smile.

3. Meditate
Do I really need to tell you more about why meditation is really good for you? One: I’m lazy. Two: There’s a million reasons. Three: Everybody knows it, you can read it everywhere, but nobody does it. Four: Just try for yourself. Yeah I know. I should, too.

4. Cook a healthy meal
Aaaah is there anything better than a nice home-cooked healthy meal? Why not link that to #5 and invite some friends over while you’re at it?

5. Spend time with positive people
…and stop spending time with those energy vampires and grumpy naysayers.

6. Get enough sleep.
Possibly one of the reasons why kids are so energetic and creative. Or “maybe it’s cuz they’re young”.

7. Talk to the universe
Sounds stupid. But works. Tell the universe what you want more of in your life and what you want your future to look like.

8. Keep a journal
Get those bad feelings out. Rant. Complain. Then let go.

9. Forgive yourself
You didn’t catch the opportunity when the time was right, again? Okay. No need to dwell on it for two years. Happens to the best of us. Breathe. Forgive yourself. Shake hands. Move on.

10. Do sports.
I never thought sports could be that fun. Then I tried climbing. Brilliant! Find something that you enjoy. Even if you have to go through all the sports from Aikido to Zumba. It’s worth it!

11. Paint
Paint the first thing that comes to your mind. Or whatever you feel like painting. Even if it’s geometrical shapes or a house on a hill. Don’t put any pressure on yourself, just this once.
Let the painting be ugly. You can mess it up. There’s absolutely no one watching. Let the painting paint itself. Drawing works too.

12. Get or borrow a dog
Nothing better than a warm dog to cuddle or take outside. You don’t have a dog? Ask the neighbour if you can take theirs out for a walk sometimes or go volunteer at an animal shelter. The fastest way to make you happy, so I think.

13. Make someone else happy
Cook a nice meal for a homeless person or send an old friend of yours a postcard or go karting with your niece who’s been begging you for ages.

14. Call someone you love
When was the last time you talked to your parents/grandparents/aunt/uncle? Somebody else’s smile is just a phone call away.

15. Read a scary short story
Don’t we all love to get all cozy and read one of those scary ghost stories. No? Then maybe you prefer “Nightingale” by Oscar Wilde or some of the old classic fairy tales?

16. Write a haiku
Anybody can do 3 lines, right? It doesn’t have to be artsy. It can be funny, scary, mystical, cute, creepy… Let’s go!

17. Indulge in a long-forgotten hobby
Remember how you loved to design your own invites? Or how you bought that book on graphology? That ukulele? Do something that was always fun, but you seem to have forgotten how awesome it actually was.

18. Watch a deep movie
Anybody can watch blockbusters. Watch a movie about life today. Something that makes you feel grateful and excited about the time you have here on this planet. My personal favorite is “About time” or “click”.

19. Relax.
You don’t need to take a bath in order to feel relaxed. Just take a moment and realize that all your worries and whatever your mind is occupied with right now will go away. It’s all going to be alright in the end. Most of what we worry about never happens anyways.

20. Play
Be like the child you once were. Build something out of clay. Run around the house pretending to be a superhero or a princess or a reman. Dress up and take funny pictures of yourself. At what point in our lives do we start judging ourselves for being imaginative and a little crazy sometimes?

21. Clean/tidy up/declutter
Sounds absurd? Aaah there’s just no way to describe this fresh, relieved, accomplished feeling you get once everything around you sparkles.