I spend a lot of time radiating happiness. I don’t do it on purpose, I just really enjoy things and I have a little trouble keeping it to myself. No matter what’s going on in my life I always notice the things I love and allow myself to be joyful about them.

Not everyone has this ability right now. So many of us have turned off our happy switch and are getting stuck focusing on all the things that bring us pain or unhappiness. If this is you or someone you know here’s some tips to flick your switch back on.

1. Give yourself permission to be happy

No matter how heavy your life is right now it’s ok to let yourself laugh, it’s ok to let yourself enjoy the beauty of a flower, sunset or butterfly, it’s ok to let your inner child out and be silly. You are not making light of your or other’s problems, or disrespecting those who have passed, or in any way doing anything to feel guilty about. You have this life to experience all that it has to offer, it’s more than OK if you choose to experience Happiness.

2. Stop focusing on what you don’t want

Focusing on the Negative (what you don’t want) is a habit. The more you do it – the more you do it… eventually everything becomes clouded by your overwhelming feeling that everything is bad.

Here are a few ways to break this habit. You will need to keep track either in your notes app on your phone, a sticky note or notebook:

A. Create a challenge

Challenge yourself to notice Ten things throughout your day that are beautiful, that make you curious, that are happy, that are kind and write them down at the end of the day. You can even challenge your family and friends and text each other your lists at the end of the day. This keeps you (and them) motivated to continue.

B. Artistic Method

If you’re a creative person collect your Ten things of beauty, kindness, smiles, happiness, etc. and at the end of the day either doodle them on a piece or paper, write a poem, haiku, take photos of representations of each, as you cook dinner incorporate foods or spices as a representation of each thing. Or use your imagination to come up with your own engaging method.

C. For Virgos and Organizers

Create a small color coded chart to log your Ten things. Perhaps Red is when someone holds the door open for you or some other small kindness, or you do the same for someone else, and yellow is when you share a smile with someone, blue can be for when you see something beautiful, green when something makes you laugh, orange when something is a fun surprise. Or find your own favorite way to track things.

D. For List Makers

If you love to make lists you might find this the easiest way to track your Ten things. Make a list of your 10 things on a piece of paper and put a dash after each one. On the right side of the dash write down the last time you felt the way the thing on the left side of the dash made you feel. When you write your first few lists you may find it a little tricky to remember your last times, but if you do this every day you’ll have a hard time stopping yourself at just one.

Use whatever method you choose to bring up those feelings again at the end of the day and savor them.

3. Give yourself a time limit for wallowing in self-pity

We all feel sorry for ourselves sometimes, that’s a normal response when something happens that we don’t like or want. But, it’s very easy to get stuck in this and start to see yourself as powerless, like things are happening To you rather than By you.

Give yourself a time limit to blame others, feel resentments, ask the ‘Why Me’s’, go down the rabbit hole of fatalistic thinking…’bad things Always happen to me’ or ‘I Never get a break’

You get 15-30 minutes tops – then get up and do something physical or constructive or both. Go for a walk, blast high energy music and clean the house or wash the car, fix that thing you’ve been meaning to get around to…focus on the thing you’re doing and Rapidly Shift Your Energy. (No calling a friend to complain during this time…it’s a complaint/problem free zone)

4. Talk the Talk

Watch your words, they hold power. Pay attention when you say things like ‘I’m not good with money’ – ‘nobody cares about me’ – ‘I hate that’ – ‘I’ll never be able to do that’…Everything is listening, your subconscious self, your body, the Universe…they all will rearrange things to make you Right.

Get them working for you – Always say it the way you want it. Even if you can’t let go of the negative completely you could say ‘In the past I haven’t been good with money’ – ‘I feel like nobody cares right now’ – ‘I’m not a fan of that’ – ‘that looks difficult, but I’d love to be able to do it’

The words you use are also a habit, they can keep you stuck or set you free…hmmm, stay Stuck or set yourself Free, what will you choose?

Side note – We’ve learned to let hardship, grief, worry consume our every waking moment. Maybe it started as your (or someone else’s) idea of being a responsible person. Then the more time you focused on what you are unhappy about the bigger it felt. The unhappiness can grow so strong you can feel trapped by it, like there’s no way out. If this sounds like you don’t believe those thoughts and feelings. Every step you take towards your happiness, even the tiniest one, counts…it creates ripples in your happiness muscles that grows with every step.

All of this and I’ve barely talked about energy and manifesting.

You Are Always Manifesting

*** Unhappy thoughts and feeling create unhappy energy within you which attracts more things to be unhappy about

Your energy is a magnet and it attracts to you the same energy you have within you

*** Happy thoughts and feeling create happy energy within you and it will attract more things for you to be happy about

The key here is…

You Only Have to Tip the Scale with 51% Happy Thoughts, Feelings and Actions to make Happy Your Dominant Energy

So, pay more attention to the things you like, the things you find beautiful, the things that are fun and silly and interesting and carefree, spend time being kind and noticing kindness around you…Energy Flows Where Attention Goes

You Hold the Power to Make Happiness Happen For Yourself. Each thing you do is cumulative and builds stronger happiness muscles and bones.

One last slice of advice, and it’s a big one…We become the people we spend the most time with. Energy is sticky and the strongest energy in the room wins so when you’re working to shift out of heavy energy surround yourself with people who see the glass as Refillable!!

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Cat Parah offers Intuitive Happiness Coaching. When you’re ready to Awaken Your Intuitive Happiness contact Cat at cat.parah@gmail.com.

The information, sessions and workshops I offer are at no time meant to replace medical advice. Although I am certified in many complimentary therapies, I am not a licensed medical physician. If you are experiencing physical, mental, emotional issues please seek advice from a licensed physician.