1.) Lose the news.

I’m not suggesting that you stick your head in the sand, only that you consider how much of what you read, watch or listen to each day is actually of service to you. 

Try setting one time a day to quickly scan the headlines.

Then, go back and read the only things that you believe will…

• Make you a more informed citizen (in a meaningful way),

• teach you something of interest,

• or elevate your mood.

Let the rest of it go.

2.) Switch out your lenses.

Imagine that every person on the planet is wearing a pair of invisible glasses that represents their perspective on what’s good and bad, right and wrong, important and unimportant, etc.

You’re wearing a pair as well. 

Life, viewed through a single pair of lenses can feel incredibly heavy because we find ourselves strongly attached to things we can’t control or the way we think things “should” be.

By trying on other people’s lenses and seeing the world through their eyes, many of those “shoulds” start to melt away.

You’ll feel lighter and happier as a result.

3.) Smile anyway.

If you’re a woman of my generation, you make recoil from being told to smile.

How many times did we hear things like, “Why don’t you smile more? You’re so much prettier when you smile…” Ugh.

Smiling has legit benefits, however.

Even faked, a smile is a neurological trigger that sets off a chemical chain reaction in your body that makes you feel objectively happier.

Go ahead and try it for yourself.

4.) Lend a hand.

Small kindnesses and tiny acts of service like holding a door, making a phone call or letting someone get ahead of you in line, don’t only feel good while you’re doing them, research shows they actually boosts your energy afterward.

Plus, kindness is contagious, so the recipient of yours is likely to pass it along to others. And so on…

5.) See the good.

While it seems simple, seeing the good is the most challenging item on this list.

It’s also the one that will have the most profound effect on your life.

It starts by accepting that ALL people are inherently good.

This can be difficult to swallow when you see so many terrible things happening in the world.

It helps to understand that we all have some basic instincts in common, one of which is to protect ourselves, and what we care about from the dangers that we fear.

Once we recognize that we’re all acting on behalf of that instinct, it’s a bit easier to accept that people are inherently good.

That doesn’t mean people don’t do bad things.

They do.

However, when you can separate a person from their actions (person = good, behavior = bad), it’s gets a whole lot easier to set boundaries, uphold consequences, and improve relationships. 

You will feel happier.

Also, there’s a bonus.

The more of us there are modeling unconditional love, in addition to setting behavioral boundaries and consequences, the less polarized (and frightening) our world will become.