Three Tips on How To Have a Happier New Year.

Tip number one.

Be more grateful.

Tip number two.

Be more kind (towards yourself and others).

Tip number three.

Be calmer.

BE MORE GRATEFUL.

You hear this word bandied about everywhere but do we actually stop to think what being grateful is all about? How do you summon up feelings of gratitude when life is presenting you with a myriad of unsettling challenges? Can you fake gratitude?

Gratitude is like every other human quality – it’s a daily choice you make.

Although you may be going through tough times, you can still choose to focus primarily on the difficulties you’re experiencing or, you can practice observing and recognising the good stuff around you. Sadly, living in an abundant society, many people take things like fresh food and water, comfortable housing, warm and cool clothing, friendships and families for granted. This and much, much more, constitutes the good stuff, but just because you have these comforts in your life, doesn’t mean it’s always easy to bring gratitude to the fore.

But, like anything that brings great benefits, it takes practice. Reminding yourself of all the good in your life regularly (and if you’re finding this hard to do, write it down daily), means feelings of gratitude start permeating your whole being and it’s hard not to feel happy when you’re truly and deeply grateful for all your blessings. Plus, feeling grateful gives you energy to do more of what you want to do and to help others more effectively.

BE MORE KIND.

Being more kind means making kinder choices.

So often I notice people in both physical life and social media life getting involved in dramatic, sometimes heated discussions about all manner of topics. People even start name calling and tossing abuse trying to prove their point and, to try to be ‘right’.  This is not practicing kindness, towards yourself or the recipient and will cause both parties unneccessary stress and often pain and sadness, after the anger has subsided.  If you want to educate people about things you’re passionate about, you’ll be far more effective doing so with kindness and consideration for the feelings of others. People switch off with angry abuse being tossed at them. They no longer hear you – they are just devising ways to get back at you and no-one wins.

Kindness means being respectful of yourself, other people, animals and our home, the earth. Choose your thoughts, words and actions with kindness and you’ll be happier more often.

BE CALMER.

Overall calmness can be effectively achieved in many ways. You can practice Meditation, Yoga, Tai Chi, etc, go for quiet walks in nature, eat a nutritionally rich diet, stay off drugs, (including alcohol and cigarettes), say positive affirmations and visualise til the cows come home, but if you’re sticking your nose into other people’s business, getting into angry discussions, (on or offline), allowing yourself to get riled about anything and everything and being ruled by your emotions, you’ll feel everything but calm.

Calmness and ‘inner peace’ come from knowing when to butt out to save your sanity. It comes from having strong boundaries and saying no to things that are not your direct concern. Calmness comes from knowing yourself deeply and being honest about what is your actual concern (and whether it affects you directly), and what isn’t. Calmness doesn’t mean you become a passive bystander. You can still actively stand up for your values and causes but with peace and calm in your core, you’ll find better ways to deal with every situation you come across.

We all make errors of judgement at times and do and say things we may later wish we hadn’t, but if you’re primarily operating from a place of calmness, you’ll be more likely to act in a gentle and kind manner and less likely to react impulsively and that’s a better option for all concerned.

We’re all trying to do better in our individual lives. Everyone is practicing being a better person in their own way and those who aren’t are painfully lost and suffering dreadfully.

Practicing being CALMER, more GRATEFUL and KINDER, can change our own lives dramatically for the better and maybe even the whole world, one day at a time.

Will you join me in practicing gratitude, kindness and calmness as we begin a new year and Every Day Gets Better?

I wish you a New Year filled with peace, joy and kindness. ❤️