29 Elements That Factor Into My Being Happy

Things I Do to Regulate My Mood at a Practically Positive Level

1) Do things that are scary but aren't particularly or necessarily dangerous (well, I guess skydiving could be considered dangerous) that could only do me good or grow me as a person. Examples:

- Trying escargot
- Auditioning for stuff

- Public speaking or performing

- Trying out for cheerleading freshman year of college (TOTALLY did not make it in, but I learned how to do new cool things)

2) Be forgiving, and seek forgiveness. Gain closure in that way; complete the circle. I think what's more uncomfortable for me to do is be the person asking for forgiveness -- not because I'm reluctant to ask because I feel I didn't do anything wrong, but because I'm afraid of how the person I (potentially) offended will react to me asking.

3) I keep my mental health balanced by keeping my social life balanced. I'm a huge introvert. Sometimes I may come across as antisocial: I've turned down offers for people to come visit me. I've turned down MANY an invitation to come do something fun -- and the sole prior engagement I had was just to be by myself for personal recharge purposes. This happens at least a couple of times a month.

4) I remember the little motto that my mother had written and hanging up at her desk in her home office: "Don't get overwhelmed; just get started." I try to remember this when I'm stressed.

5) My mother has also said to me a number of times in my growing up: "You're allowed to have one bad day." What she meant was basically to go ahead and cry and, if necessary, have a fit for one day, but buck up and hop back on the horse the very next day.

6) I program myself to: A) think the world is glorious, gorgeous, and mesmerizing; and B) believe everybody is funny. These are key elements in enabling me to easily see the good both in the world around me and in the people around me who live in the world. This is also probably why I am nearly constantly smiling or laughing.

7) I keep myself heavily trapped in the past when it comes to the music I listen to. Stuff that's old is: A) soooo much better than the "latest and greatest" hits that the hip radio stations play these days; and B) it's too excellent to be forgotten. I like to be in the elite group of the Unforgetters. (This is, of course, subjective. This is all my opinion. However, I do still think I'm totally right in this thing...)

8) Another thing about music: I keep my listening and playing/performing repertoire extremely vast and varied. On listening: I'd go absolutely NUTS in a horrible way if I stuck only to a tiny, tiny selection of genres. Only listen to classical and/or show tunes? I'd probably die. Too much rock (rock's my favorite)? I'd get too uptight. I require and crave quickly-alternating genres popping in and out on my device in my car, in my ears, wherever.

9) In fact, sometimes I've had either too much noise or too much music during the day or hitherto during the week, and so the next time I hop into my car, I drive in complete silence. Too much music up until present point and I also might flip on a podcast instead.

10) No matter the temperature, I MUST be outside for at least a few brief minutes every day. Sometimes that can be very hard to get done. #CrazyLifeHappens

11) I'll get very worked up over something sometimes, and all I'll really want is for someone to just sit there and listen to my explosive expressions of angry angst at the universe (episodes of this happen only about once a year -- only a microscopic "lucky few" have ever seen me like this). It helps a LOT. Thanks to every friend who's ever done that for me. I, in turn, love to do that for other people. Do you need to detonate at the universe? Talk to me. I'll lend you my ears.

12) "Angry angst at the universe." I very often do not get mad at people in a personal way. I always feel like most of the time it's not any person's real fault. I often just blame it on "the universe," which helps me keep a clean conscience.

13) If nothing else present in the room, I always make sure I leave my bed tidied, if not totally made.

14) When times get hard, especially in certain ways, I remember there are Heavenly Parents, Jesus Christ the Savior, and a marvelous-beyond-imagination Third Act of the three-act play of our eternal lives.

15) Counting blessings. In thick times and thin. For me, counting blessings isn't a to-do item on a list to check off. It's not structured. I find it happens most often when I encounter a person and, after my experience with them, I quietly say to myself, internally, "I just really like that person and I'm glad they're in my life."

16) Remember that it is always proper for a person to never be too old for cartoons. Example: I assert that it will always be acceptable for me to always find "TROGDOR THE BURNINATOR" to be funny, 'til my dying day:

17) The assortment of clothing in my closet is colorful.

18) Be a shameless geek or nerd about things.

19) I ask guys on dates sometimes. I find that doing so helps keep my dating life usually quite fun, whether there are lulls between guys initiating dates or no such lulls. (Dating life lulls happen -- let's be real here.)

20) A dream of mine is to become a happily married woman, which largely would mean becoming a woman who finds joy in helping her husband be a very happy man -- and hopefully consequently, in whatever time the Lord sees fit -- become a mother who finds joy in raising children. All of this is an amazing and extremely worthy wish to have, but it is not the only amazing and worthy wish to have. What else is amazing and worthy is to become the best PERSON I can be -- to grow myself through talent-development and skill-polishing. So that I may have order, peace, and joy in my own life, AND to bless the lives of others, especially a family of my own whom I may have either in this life or the one to come.

21) I enjoy being a listener, and I enjoy believing that most people are trying sincerely to be the best they can be. I think this helps me gain a solider understanding of people individually. Every once in a while I'll receive a person into my life who takes me a little longer to understand. I find that if I serve them with a humble heart, or if I get an opportunity to serve with them, my understanding and love for them deepen.

22) When I was 22 (oh HEYYY! this is the 22nd item in this list! #MeantToBe) I lived in Washington, D.C., with scores of fellow single people who, in my eyes, were much older, wiser, and smarter than me. I felt inadequate and out-of-place, but I consciously "faked it 'til I made it," every single day. But no matter how insecure I felt, the elder others treated me with immense respect and as if I was the classiest person they knew. I really appreciated that. I think I probably continue to do that same sort of "fake it" thing in nowaday settings in which I feel insecure, and I think most of the time it pays off. For me, the motto seems to be, "Pretend to know what you're doing until it becomes so that you DO know what you're doing." I perhaps have seen this naturally come into play when I've had a new job or especially when I'm in oh-so frequent situations where I have to fake being fearlessly outgoing in certain social settings, when what's actually going on inside is that I'm an introverted basket case.

23) There's a list of things I am regularly determined to do as a member of my faith -- activities that are official-sanctioned by my church which, if I do them, will help me feel a stronger connection with my Heavenly Father, my Savior, and the Holy Ghost. And it's TRUE! If I do do these things, they do help me feel whole, and more "at one" with those divine People.

24) Any chance I get, I pet a docile animal. Bird, kitten, puppy, horse, goat, garter snake, tortoise, horned lizard...ummm...stingray? Dogs are my favorite. I adore my sisters' dogs. I sometimes ask passerby strangers if I can pet their dogs. I wish I were in the stage of my life where I could have a dog... I miss every dog I ever had in my life. My most recent dogs died over 10 years ago, and I still miss them like crazy every day of my life. I used the word "life" so much in this #24... Sorry... But not that sorry.

25) I feel so cheerfully alive whenever I have a conversation with a small child about something. They're hilarious. Their dreams are so lofty and big and beautiful. They're starting to discover, delve into, and pursue talents that'll likely change the world. I also get a kick out of bantering with young teens and preteens, when they're starting to shift their focus on things like Does this boy like me????? Or talking aspirations with youth who are about to graduate from high school and move on to bigger and better things... SO much fun!

26) Eating healthy and exercising! Though I sometimes fall short of the absolute-perfect lifestyle, in that regard, I do very much love to choose nutritious, I love to be active, and I'm sometimes thought of as "weird" because I loooove choosing the stairs that lead up to the front doors of a city building, when there's an infinitely more convenient walking ramp to take instead.

27) I try to keep up with current events, and abide by a standard that urges me to assign my attention fairly to both urgent news and uplifting news. I sense that uplifting news oftentimes gets the shaft; therefore, I like to try giving it the attention it often deserves, while still making sure I'm a concerned citizen as I ought to be.

28) Sometimes the best way to either calm or elevate my spirits is to write music. Sometimes the best way to comprehend or release my built-up, massive emotions is to write words.

29) Chocolate-covered strawberries. People playing with my hair. C.S. Lewis books on CD. Harry Potter. Simple pleasures.