Summarize the following:
Imagine yourself with pajamas on, your head looking like it got wrung through the dryer, and little footie slippers on your feet walking into your neighborhood grocery store. You'd rather not, huh? The image evokes a sense of shame and embarrassment, even though there's nothing wrong with it. Instead, imagine yourself dressed to the nines, hair manicured just right, with silver buckles on your shoes. Feels pretty good. So on those days when feeling awesome is a battle, get fancy. Sometimes you just have to work from the outside in. There's science behind this, too: doctors who wear their white coat and dress clothes while testing perform better. Soccer coaches who dress in suits and ties instead of sweats get better results from their players. Who knows? Maybe getting fancy would change the effect you have on people, too! Very few people are happy when they don't have others to rely on and to share their happiness with. What's more, having others around can get you out of those moods when that happiness is hard to come by. To feel like you're impacting others' lives for the better, get involved. Make yourself an integral part of a group. The group will be better for it, and so will you. Research supports the same idea, turns out. Happiness is essentially the same thing as being well-connected. The more positive connections you have and the stronger your friendships, the happier you'll feel. Having new experiences is one of the simplest ways to stay feeling invigorated, otherwise life can get a little boring. Routines are great, but they need to be deviated from time to time. Take a day once in a while to do something brand new to lead to surprising, exciting experiences. You may run into something you love! Having new experiences and surprising yourself is a great way to keep laughing. Research has shown that those who laugh are happier and more productive. And it feels good, too! It seems like the news is getting worse and worse. Media outlets are stretching further and further to get a rise out of us, to surprise us, and to keep us captivated. But as a result, our overall happiness is suffering. Research has recently found that those who read the news are less happy. If you're feeling a less awesome than you'd like, turn off the notifications on your phone and sign off the Internet for a bit. You'll likely feel better. If you're a news junkie, make efforts to limit how much of your time is spent on news outlets and social media sites, which are just as bad. At first you'll feel a sense of withdrawal, but after it passes you'll wonder why you even wasted your time in the first place. You know how they say "it's better to give than to receive"? Well, it actually is. Helping others can make you feel good about yourself, happier, and more awesome. Here are some ideas: Volunteer at your local hospital, soup kitchen, or shelter Help out a few elderly people you know Assist your friends who you know could use a hand You likely have a handful of friends that do things because they're expected to, because their parents want them to, or because they want something materialistic, like money. This is a one-way ticket in the fast lane to feeling pretty darn miserable. It should be one of your top priorities to do what you enjoy, regardless of what it is. If you enjoy it, it's not a waste of time. You'll feel awesome doing what you love, honing your skills, and becoming a master at something that has meaning to you. Not all of us can fulfill our dreams, but we can take strides to make aspects of the dream a part of our lives. Love basketball, but you know you'll never play it professionally? Join a league. Coach at a school. Referee the local league. Play with your kids or friends on the weekends. Keep it in your life as much as you can.
Get all fancy. Nestle yourself firmly into a community. Surprise yourself from time to time. Use technology and the media only to feel good. Develop the habit of helping others. Do what speaks to you.