25 Ways to Instantly Boost Your Happiness

1.) Watch an episode of the Ellen Degeneres show or one of her YouTube videos.

2). Watch the documentary Craiglist Joe, about a man who travels across the U.S. without money, relying on other peoples’ kindness for places to stay and eat. Faith in humanity instantly restored.

3). Buy the person behind you in the drive-thru line a cup of coffee. Various studies show that doing kind acts for others boost our own happiness.

4). Look at old childhood photos. No, not online ones if you can help it. The actual hard copies of photos that were not yet “extinct” in the 90s and early 2000s.

5). Start a nice things jar. Every day for a year, write down one nice thing that happens to you. Do not open the jar until the next year.

6). Start a gratitude journal. Each day, write down 5-7 things you are grateful for. It can be as simple as having a good cup of coffee.

7). Try going at least one whole day without using your phone, computer, or [insert other similar technology here]. Just take a day to be in the moment or to actually be with the people around you.

8). Start a bucket list. There is nothing more satisfying than crossing items off your list.

9). Read either Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project or Noelle Hancock’s My Year with Eleanor.

10). Go geocaching! Basically, it is one giant outdoor treasure hunt. You can get the free app on your phone to find local caches near you. There’s nothing better than the feeling of discovering your first cache.

11). Kiss someone at the top of a Ferris wheel or roller coaster. Cliche? Yes. But I’ll bet it will make you feel happy.

12). Look at the stars on the beach at night. No cell phones allowed!

13). Have an Auntie Anne’s pretzel.

14). Listen to classic songs from the 90’s.

15). Watch The Lion King or any Disney movie from your childhood for that matter. Old Mary Kate and Ashley movies work too.

16). Buy a bouquet of fake flowers (in case people are allergic and so the flowers last longer) and hand them out at a nursing home.

17). Get a penpal from a different country than your own.

18). Treat yourself to something: flowers, a mani/pedi, a massage, or an ice cream cone. Don’t forget to love yourself too.

19). Treat yourself to a night at a hotel. Some places have surprisingly great deals and it will feel like a mini-vacation.

20). Visit freerice.com and help stop world hunger. Not only does the website allow you to improve your own vocabulary or learn new languages, but you feed others while playing on the site.

21). Go jet skiing, tubing, on a boat ride, or do some type of water sport.

22). Go for a long drive along a beautiful road.

23). Go to an indoor trampoline park.

24). Have chocolate strawberries.

25). Walk on the boardwalk and buy yourself a large lemonade.

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