7 Little Things That Make A Big Impact (Or, How To Be Happier With Your Life)

It’s super easy to post “life is great, I’m soooo happy” on Instagram or Twitter and exert to the world your wonderfully positive life. But are you really happy? A lot of the times people just say it in hopes they feel it one day, but let’s face it: life can get shitty sometimes. The great part is that life is good whether it’s raining or shining. Really. After many years of soul-searching, I came up with my list that helped me become a more positive being.

1. Never settle. At all.

We fail to realize we deserve the very best in everything. A lot of people tend to sell themselves short way too much. I know what I have to offer and if I am offering the best, then I deserve the best, too. Whether it be a job, a grade, a friendship, or even a significant other, everything you accept reflects how you truly feel inside. With that being said, if you do the bare minimum, that means you feel like the bare minimum. If, in fact, you don’t feel good enough and feel like you should settle, find out why you feel this way and change it!

2. It will always get better.

Sometimes life gets rough, like extremely rough. It’s easy to want to give up because nothing seems to be going right, but that’s what life is all about: getting through the struggles to celebrate success. Life is no walk in the park so you might as well embrace everything and remember that you were blessed with the opportunity to be alive. A lot of people didn’t make it and you did.

3. Stop and smell the roses.

When things are going well, we often take it and run with it, because we’re just so damn happy everything is going in our favor. I was bad about that for a while, but then one day I sat down and realized how blessed I really am. When everything is going great, soak in every detail. Stop and look around and embrace the beauty of your good life, and give thanks.

4. Stop and smell the shit, too.

Without bad stuff, good things wouldn’t feel so good, right? When life is being an ass, sit back and laugh! Work hard to work through your struggle but always remember it’s probably been way worse. Look around at your problems and laugh because they’ll be gone soon enough when taken care of the right way. Without this terrible week, the other weeks wouldn’t feel so amazing.

5. Don’t blame others.

As humans, the easiest thing to do is blame others — or even God — for our problems. I can almost promise if you look at the problem you’re in, it had something to do with you. Stop blaming others for your mistakes, take responsibility, and fix it. Once you do that, most likely you’ll have a better time fixing your issue. We bring on a lot of our turmoil ourselves but don’t want to believe it. That tire that popped because I drove it to the limit. The guy or girl that hurt you? You probably had warning signs but ignored them. So again take responsibility for YOUR self.

6. Expect nothing. Give everything.

Hey, giving something and expecting something in return is worse than giving nothing at all. If you don’t give wholeheartedly and only do it to feel validated or like a good person, I’m sorry but you’re not. When I give it is because seeing someone smile makes my life worthwhile. I came to realize long ago that making others happy is my passion. When I give someone a gift or a small token of appreciation, it is solely because I want to do it. Not to look good for others or advertise to the public to seem awesome because, well, I don’t need the public to tell me that, but nonetheless give your all; even if you never receive a single thing, you’ll feel amazing on the inside.

7. Live for yourself!

Do whatever the hell makes you happy )as long as it isn’t an addictive drug, or something)! Stop living to please others. You came in alone, and indeed will go alone, so why impress people who weren’t and never will be there? We often seek validation from others to make ourselves feel better but for what? What does their approval even mean? Absolutely nothing. I’m weird. I like antique books, and garage selling, and Elton John, and tattoos, and different hip-hop, and talking to random people, and Summer Shandy beer, and there’s so much more but if no one else accepts me, I know I do. And you know what? The day I found myself is the day I became great.