Low expectations.
Long, intense binges of self-destructive behavior always put me right back on the sunny side of the street.
Don’t pet the sweaty stuff.
(And don’t sweat the petty stuff, either.)
I “stay happy” by ignoring everything else and just doing those things that I enjoy. I love hobby electronics; so I’ll just sit there hooking up circuits and whatnot, and boy, when they work, I sure feel happy! What else…planespotting. I love planespotting. I feel so happy when I see that great big 747 I’ve been waiting to see.
My answer is much less philisophical than the others, but that’s my approarch. Basically, I just don’t allow time to worry.
My father-in-law has a saying that has helped me to put a lot of worries into perspective:
“There are only 2 kinds of problems - Big problems and little problems. Big problems are any kinds of problems you CAN’T throw money at to make them go away.”
He is right. We were worried about our increasing balance on our credit card bill. My wife was really starting to stess out about it. Then my sister-in-law admitted to the family she has been taking drugs for the past 3 months. Suddenly the credit card bill didn’t seem so big to us. Yes, our life is stressful, we have a good guide to tell us what is worth stressing out about.
Uprooting unhelpful beliefs can go a long way towards being happy.
Some beliefs I had to chuck before I could be happy most of the time.
“Happy people are shallow and uncaring”
“Being depressed makes me deep and intellectual”
“Unless I solve the problems of world hunger, war, environmental degradation, and every other social ill I am a failure”
“There is a perfect career for me and once I find it I will be completely fulfilled”
They look silly when you write them out like that, but until I could explicitly examine them they did a lot of harm.
I also had to master some important life skills.
-Earning a living
-making friends
I would find it difficult to be happy if I couldn’t do those two things and each was harder to learn for me than it seemed like they were for other people.
On worrying-
It has been helpful for me to redefine worrying as “contingency planning” Then you can actually take action on all those what ifs. “What if I don’t get into graduate school?” “I’ll do something else. I’ll volunteer with Americorp for a year or I’ll get a job just long enough for plane fare to someplace really cheap to live”
Make your worries work for you. Use the energy of worrying to solve the problem the worry presents. Especially write down brainstorms of how to solve the worry so your mind doesn’t keep going over the same thing, afraid it will forget.
Well, my personal philosophy is the imagine the worst event. If it doesn’t happen, then I’ve pleasently surprised and relieved. Maybe even happy. If it does happen, then I shug my shoulders and accept it; heck I’m mentally prepared for this now.
Either that or puppies. Aren’t they the cutest?
Actually, I believe kittens are the cutest, but to each their own. 
I keep saying that there should be an all kittens and puppies channel. I would certainly watch it.
As trite as it might seem I try and focus on, for lack of a better term, “life affirming” things.
There’s many reasons I have gotten depressed. But usually if I try and think about/ see/ hear something that makes me appreciate the good in the world, it cheers me up.
Some examples include listening to great music, going to an art museum, watching a brilliant movie or even listing to a really great comedian. Anything that can make you consider for a moment that there’s some really great things out there in the world if we stop and take notice.
And from the school of “teach a man to fish…”, I find that pursuing a creative goal or hobby is a big help. If you can focus on playing an instrument or learning to paint, for instance, it can go a long way to getting your mind off the negative and giving yourself a sense of accomplishment. Even less lofty goals could be a boost. Try and rebuild an engine or learn a technical craft. Focus on learning something you can take pride in knowing how to do.
Hope that helps.
There is more good than bad in the world. We notice the bad stuff because its stands out against the inherent and pervading goodness of the world. It’s easy to dwell on the bad things, but harder to see the woods for the trees: that there’s so much goodness out there waiting to be appreciated.
People too. Most people, most of the time try their very best to be good. We trust and believe in our friends and family, but tend to be very cynical and suspicious about the motives of people we don’t know. Don’t be. Most strangers are possessed of the same motivations and ethics as the people you like and trust. Most of them are just like you and me: trying their utmost to be good people. They deserve faith, not cynicism.
There is more good than bad in the world. We notice the bad stuff because its stands out against the inherent and pervading goodness of the world. It’s easy to dwell on the bad things, but harder to see the woods for the trees: that there’s so much goodness out there waiting to be appreciated.
People too. Most people, most of the time try their very best to be good. We trust and believe in our friends and family, but tend to be very cynical and suspicious about the motives of people we don’t know. Don’t be. Most strangers are possessed of the same motivations and ethics as the people you like and trust. Most of them are just like you and me: trying their utmost to be good people. They deserve faith, not cynicism.
I think some people just LIKE to worry. Not my style. I find things that challenge me personally. I do what I like to do. I cannot tell others how to be or feel happy. I also do not totally agree that this is a “crazy mixed up world.” Life is 
As a soap character put: If worrying solves your problems, then worry. But it doesn’t.
We do live in a crazy mixed up world. BUT it’s not the first time in history the world has been turned upside down, and it isn’t the last. Young people should get a good book on the 1960’s and find out how the world went nuts last time. It happens, and someone you survive.
Make a list of everything you’re worried about that might happen this month. At the end of the month, check your list. As one of my always worrying friends said: I had a list of 35 items. Five things happened, including two that weren’t even on the damn list.
You cannot predict the future. You can plan it for in some ways, i.e. have some money saved, pay your bills, do your job well enough not to get fired. But life is going to got crazy and mixed up, and people go on.
Simple things keep me happy, and I never have felt the need to move beyond that. I’m actually scared of that, because I think onced you get use to highfalutin’ pleasures, it’s hard to experience all the tiny things that made you happy. Look at Vogue magazine, for example. There are thousand-dollar blouses in that magazine. Do you think somebody who’s used to thousand-dollar blouses would really be happy with the Dollar Store?
I have good friends, a nice house, and a nice garden. I love to read, love DVDS, and travel. I think happiness can kind of surprise you, too----you can hope for it, plan for it, and try to safeguard it, but sometimes it creeps up on you. Sometimes it just surprises you. It’s good to appreciate it when that happens. ]
Oh, and? Strawberries and champagne always help.
Who the hell ever said we should expect to be “happy?” I think that’s a pretty modern notion. People invented religion because they were so miserable in this life that they had to invent an afterlife they could be happy in.
Happy? Bah.
Bah. Humbug.
“Humbug, Mr. Baldrick?”
“Why, thank you, sir!”
Honestly? A combination of an easygoing attitude, a strict “take-no-BS” policy, a good sense of humor, and anti-depressants.
u depressing bastards
I’m also a strong believer in setting one’s standards low. That way you’ll be pleasantly surprised when things DO work out