Think Well
Article

Forget your troubles - come on, get happy! When life sometimes conspires to test you - the car breaks down, you lose important notes for work and it rains all over your expensive new haircut, for example - it can be easy to feel down.

However, instead of letting negativity take over and ruin your evening or even your week, why not try looking on the bright side and thinking yourself happy?

Psychologists increasingly believe that it's possible to overcome that fed-up feeling by concentrating on good things and taking out a little more time for yourself once in a while to avoid getting ground down.

Writing for Net Doctor, Sally Brown of Zest magazine said changing the way you think could completely alter your outlook on life, getting your brain into a happier shape permanently.

She had a few tips which could help you to achieve this in a short time each day, starting with meditation for ten minutes.

"Pick a word with peaceful connotations, such as 'calm', 'relax' or 'love'. Sit somewhere quiet, close your eyes and breathe slowly. Each time you exhale, silently repeat your chosen word," she recommended, insisting this should allow you to put annoying or upsetting daily events into context and deal with them more easily.

A happy hour - not the drinking variety though - may also be valuable in giving you something to look forward to instead of simply getting up, going to work, coming home and going to bed.

This involves swapping simply flicking channels on the TV for something you get a real boost from - such as going for a walk or playing badminton - for just an hour or two a week.

Psychologist Dr David Schkade from the University Of California told Net Doctor: "You'll be surprised at how much this will improve your overall happiness."

Sally's article also warned against being too critical of yourself, as this could lead your subconscious to think critically automatically,

Instead of letting yourself think 'I'm boring', for instance, surround your desk at work with photos that will remind you you're not, perhaps of you running in a sponsored race or getting a qualification such as a degree.

Meanwhile, Rachael Combe of US Elle magazine suggested swapping material wellbeing boosters - such as shopping when you feel low - for more basic pleasures to provide a lasting lift.

She pointed out that she never feels happier than when she can get back to nature for just a little while and literally run away her problems.

"When I set out on a country road, watching the leaves and wildflowers, listening to the birds and bugs, sometimes singing a little to myself, I have that feeling that I'm getting away with something - I feel free, I feel alive and I feel pleasure," she enthused.

So while these simple pleasures might not help you locate your lost business presentation, they could help you to realise that it might not be the end of the world.