How to remain upbeat (13/01/2013)

Have a great day!

As hard as we try; life (at times) seems to find ways to either knock us off our feet or to gradually grind us down until we are truly fed up. Life becomes a daily drudge; without joy or hope.

Felt like this? No? You are very lucky my friend. Yes? Welcome to the club!

When we feel like this it is vital that we do something about it and not just ignore it. As far as we can prove; you only have one life - why spend a second of it unhappy?

The world we live in is amazing - it is so complex and beautiful and, despite many centuries of trying, we still cannot create anything as beautiful as nature - nor anything that can withstand it at its greatest. Yet you miss all of this when caught up in negativity.

Over the years, I have had a number of setbacks and, through this, have found ways to pick myself up and remain upbeat - and I want to share them with you. There are no 'golden rules' as to what will work but some of the ideas in this article may help you. However, it is important that you investigate other ideas and try and find your own methods as well.

Take the time to purposely notice one beautiful or inspiring thing a day

There is so much wonder and beauty around us - make it your task to notice one beautiful or inspiring thing a day. It could be anything - a tree, a colour you like or a new product that excites you.

But don't just stop there; acknowledge to yourself what you have seen. Say to yourself "what a beautiful tree" or "I love that colour".

No caption required.....

It sounds daft; but acknowledging one thing every day that you like or that inspires you will change your perspective. Soon you'll find yourself noticing more than one thing a day - suddenly life doesn't seem that rubbish; there's actually lots to like.

Take and keep photos of things you see that you find striking, beautiful or interesting

Why just notice when you can keep a record of what has inspired you (though be careful what you are taking photos of!). Save the photos in a folder and then you can look through them any time you feel down.

You can also use such images for creative inspiration - you cannot be creative unless you know what really inspires you. So if you want creative inspiration; look through the photos and it will come!

Write down something you are thankful for each day

Similar to taking note of beautiful things you see, write down (in a journal) one thing every day you are grateful for (it has to be something different every day).

This may be hard to do - and this is good; as it will really make you think. And, if you think about it, you will find something to be grateful for every day. The more you do this; the easier it will get. This will also leave you with a wonderful journal of exactly why you should be grateful - what a wonderful gift to yourself!

Learn something new each day

Do you ever feel like you are stagnating? Like every day is the same? Then make a decision to learn something new every day.

You already do learn a lot of new things each year (even if you don't feel this is the case!). So don't just learn something new everyday; keep a journal of what you have learnt (like I am doing with this blog!).

Life is this beautiful

Soon you will realise just how many new skills you do learn, you'll have new knowledge and a journal full of useful reference (in case you forget one of your new skills!).

Take control of situations you feel are controlling you 

A final tactic is to take charge of situations that are making you unhappy and that are controlling you. None of us like being forced along a route we don't want to go down.

So if there is something making you unhappy and you can do something about it; then do it - work out what you want to do about it, how to do it and then do it!

If you can't do anything about it; then change your focus - how can you make the situation work better for you? Can you make the situation end sooner than it normally would? Can you get some additional benefit from the situation?

Try these methods and develop your own - being able to lift your mood when things don't go well is a vital survival skill all of us need to learn.

This is my blog, my attempt to document one new thing I have learnt everyday. We learn so much and it is easy to overlook just how much we do learn. Any of the products or websites mentioned in my blog are ones I have found useful. I have no link to these websites (unless otherwise stated) and do not receive any benefit from linking to them. I am not an expert in any of the products I mention so you will have to do your own research and reach your own conclusions.