Happiness and sadness, positivity and negativity, good and bad. Each at the end of their respective emotions. If we look at the counterbalancing of these two, we cannot really know one without the other. We also must balance the two and hope for more of the better than the worse.
How, then, do we chase happiness and joy, keeping their opposites away? One way is to follow every negative emotion with a positive one. Essentially, recondition yourself to not just focus on what is negative or bad letting it compound and build, but to keep, at best, a net gain of zero.
According to Mark Stibich, PhD ,our minds are constantly keeping track of negative emotions and responding with stress and sadness. When we add more positive thoughts our brain creates relaxation and happiness.
As we become more connected with our minds and monitor our emotions, introducing positive thoughts to counteract negative ones, our happiness should increase. By concentrating on positive thoughts and emotions we should have less stress and be more productive and happier.
Another technique that has proven to beneficial is to smile. Researchers think that by even forcing a smile, you activate certain muscles in the face that are linked to the emotions of happiness and joy. Simply by smiling we signal the emotional centers of our brain to tell us that everything is good, even if it isn’t yet.
Set a reminder of some sort to smile. Set a timer on your watch, smile when you reach for a drink of water, smile when you hear the phone ring at work, or when a customer passes or approaches your desk.
Surround yourself with things that make you smile, pictures of friends, pets or loved ones. Put a sticky note somewhere with a silly drawing. Save funny memes on your phone or desktop at work. Make yourself smile and who knows, maybe someone else might smile back.
