What can you do to make yourself happy - and make everybody happy?
First things first, if you are depressed then you should seek help - your local GP is often the best place to start. Modern medication and talking therapies are very effective and lots of people respond well. If things are serious you need to get some serious help.
If you are not depressed but just fed up then here is a brief list of things to get you started, there is a whole heap of information out there on the web and in books about how to get happy, there a lot of simple things that you can do which are easy and fun and will make a difference to your life. Being happy would be even easier in a world where everybody else was happy - so lets campaign for a happier world too!
Make yourself happy
- Take a happiness test
Find out how you rate - and then see if you can get any happier. Maybe you already feel happy, but could you be even happier?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/happiness_formula/4785402.stm
http://www.stanford.edu/class/msande271/onlinetools/LearnedOpt.html - learn optimistic thinking
Feeling low can spiral down into depression if you've learned to be helpless. Switch this around and imunise yourself from depression.
Read Learned Optimism
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=T6loWc55YTM - Read a book and get inspired
There are a LOT of books on happiness, some are better than others, this is the official Make Everybody Happy reading list - eat better
What you eat effects how you think - try living on lollipops and see how happy you feel. Eat a healthy, balanced, low GI diet and see how your thoughts clear and your smile returns.
look in our recipes section - Get some exercise
Getting exercise boosts your endorphin levels and helps to make you happy. Keep it up and you also get a sense of achievement, do it outside and you get sunlight which boosts melatonin levels and prevents SAD.
Try yoga, walking, running, tennis, football... - Get involved with community projects
Mrs. Thatch said society dosn't exist, she wasn't far wrong! We need to gang up on depression and make it submit. Join up with other people and see what you can do. Maybe we could form a union and go on strike.
Do-It
The Wildlife Trusts
Volunteering England
Make everybody happy
Governments should have the happiness of the people as a major objective. Access to information about happiness and the tools needed to achieve it should be available to all. We can measure the happiness of the population and see what measures make a difference
- Join Make Everybody happy
The more members we have the bigger our voice! Membership is free and we promise not to sell your details or send you spam - Write to your MP - or any other political representative!
http://www.writetothem.com/
http://www.parliament.uk/directories/hciolists/alms.cfm - Sign our petition
If you live in the UK, sign our petition at Number10.gov.uk and let Gordon Brown know that we are serious about happiness. If you live elsewhere, find out if you can set up a petition in your country - and let us know about it!! - Link to MakeEveryBodyHappy.org
Help us to build our profile and swell our ranks - Send us your stories
send us your personal stories of how you found happiness - info@makeeverybodyhappy.org - inspire others!
Above all do SOMETHING! Depression and gloom love it when you sit around and tell yourself that nothing can be done. Get up and move and you stab them in the eye. If you are feeling really down try tidying and cleaning, it's simple to do and you can see straight away when you have made progress. When I get really low I clean the kitchen, it gets my blood flowing, gives me a sense of purpose and achievement - and when I've finished I've got a clean kitchen!