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How to be Happy: Footnotes

The things that make us happy vary vastly with our age and circumstances.

What made us happy at age 4 is not likely to make us happy at 34 (though if it does, congratulations! You’ve already cracked the happiness code and don’t need this article.) Where an extra biscuit at snack-time would have had us squealing with joy at 4 years old, it’s a gourmet dinner that will likely satisfy us at 34 years old.

Thus, happiness is a state of mind.

What if we could bring back the joy we felt, at 4 years old, for an extra biscuit? Imagine the innumerable joys we would experience then, every single day.

Almost every moment would become a cause for celebration.

Here’s how to be happy. Cast aside your self-doubt and uncertainty, embrace this list, and watch your life transform!

  1. Play in the rain.

  2. Ask for rainbow sprinkles on your ice cream.

  3. Dial a random number, ask them if their refrigerator is running. If they say yes, ask them to catch it before it gets away!

  4. Call up someone you love and tell them you love them. Tell them why.

  5. Read an Enid Blyton book.

  6. Dip biscuits into your tea, watch the soggy bits fall in and scoop them out with a spoon.

  7. Wear an outfit that you would have picked out as a child but would never wear as an adult.

  8. Write a letter of love to your young self.

  9. Eat right.

  10. Go to bed at the same time every night.

That’s it. This is the list that will change your life. I guarantee it. Because happiness really is found in the little things. Happiness is about finding the moments that make us feel alive and grateful. Happiness is right here, right now.

All we have to do is open our eyes to it.
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