10 Ways To Bring Out Your Happiest Self

Because being happy is the best way to be, here is a list of the 10 things that bring out the happiest side of me:

1. Group chats with good friends.

I don’t know who thought of this wonderful form of communication, but there is no better way to lift your spirits than to talk about randomness with the people you love the most (and all their crazy personalities) all at once. This is especially true if you don’t live in the same state as all your close friends and can’t just show up on their doorstep.

2. Old voicemails.

Because nothing brings a smile to my face faster than the sound of my then 2 year old nephew leaving me a voicemail in baby talk. #Cuteness

3. Terrible (yet somehow awesome) moments captured on film.

In college, my best friend and I would take pictures every.single.day. I have the mounds of SD cards to prove it! But one picture caps the list as my favorite of all time. On what was supposed to be a day just like any other we decided to snap a few pics with the assistance of self-timer. Little did we know we were about to capture an awful moment in time that now brings me (and sometimes her) so much joy that I literally laugh until I cry every time I “bump” it.

4. Singing in the shower.

Because everyone sounds good in the shower and because I truly believe that loud singing in an enclosed box has to be some type of self-therapy. No matter what song(s) you choose to belt out, when you leave that shower things are always much clearer (and hopefully cleaner) than when you went in.

5. Random late night cleaning sessions.

I don’t know how, and I don’t know why, but the same clear-headedness that comes about while having concerts in the shower can also be achieved through random late night cleaning sessions. Perhaps it’s the fact that there is nothing on tv to distract me, or the thought that in the morning I will wake up to a sparkly clean room, or just being able to do something without having to talk it through. But late night cleaning sessions are the best if you’ve got something on your mind that can only be worked out silently.

6. Receiving a handwritten letter or card in the mail.

First, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love receiving something personally addressed to them in the mail. Second, in a time where text is practically the only way people communicate, a handwritten card or letter brings such warmth to my heart. It means that someone not only thought of me but took the time to sit down, write a note, and then drive to the post office to mail it instead of simply sending a “you ran across my mind” text.

7. Shopping.

Because sometimes a little retail therapy is simply the best way to go.

8. Talking to my siblings.

My siblings are crazy, loud, rambunctious, entertaining, and all that I could need to be put into a better mood ASAP. No matter what the topic I know that our conversations will always be filled with loving words and laughter by the end of each one.

9. My Britney Spears Pandora station.

Hear me out on this one. I can’t say that I’m an all-around Britney Spears fan, but for some reason, using her as the starter artist for my Pandora station has created one of the best high-energy playlists I have ever heard from Pandora. Give it a try, you won’t be disappointed!

10. My mother.

This woman, that I love SO MUCH, can bring me out a funk faster than you can say fast! I don’t know what kind of special powers mothers are blessed with when they have children, but I think she got extra. Nothing and no one can make me happier than my Momma and she will forever be the love of my life for that reason alone. Maya Angelou once wrote “To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power. Or the climbing, falling colors of a rainbow.” Perfectly said.