0

5 Ways to Improve Your Happiness

Life can be stressful and hard, and at times just overwhelm you with negative events that leave you frustrated and sad. When negative feelings prevail in your life and you find it hard to feel truly content and blissful, it is time for some simple changes in your life.

But even if you think things are going quite smoothly for you, there might always be room for improvement when it comes to your personal happiness. The following tips could come in handy here.

1 Make Time For Your Passion(s)

No matter how stressful your job or how busy your daily life is, you should make some time for your passion(s) every day in order to create some balance. Whatever it is that you personally really enjoy doing, engage in it regularly. When you are really into something, it will make you forget about everything else for at least the time of actively doing it.

If you engage in it before whichever chores are awaiting you, you will face those in a more relaxed and more positive way. On the other hand, if you are planning to engage in your hobby after the unpleasant duties, you permanently have something to look forward to.

2 Find Your Strength And Use It

Think about what you are really good at. Even if it is not your favorite activity, accomplishing something with success will fill you with a pleasant sense of pride and satisfaction. Find your niche, something you are really good at, do it for yourself and for others and you will earn plenty of esteem signals, which in turn will increase your self-esteem and therefore make you happier all-over.

Human beings are social creatures and constantly seek approval, be it consciously or subconsciously. Everyone knows how good it feels to be praised for an achievement.

3. Help Others

Even though it is called “self-esteem”, it is the people around us who make us gain it. Helping others will make you happy and raise your self-esteem, because you will be rewarded with genuine gratitude and appreciation. And in turn, the people you have helped will very likely offer their help to you if ever you need it.

Knowing that there will be someone there for you when things turn against you in whatever way, can take many of your worries away and make you stronger when taking decisions in life.

4. Avoid Unrealistic Expectations

We often have unrealistic expectations, be it about uncontrollable life events or other people around us. As a result, we often end up disappointed and frustrated, which are two feelings that are very hard to overcome once they have come over us. Naturally, disappointment can’t always be avoided, but if you lower your expectations on certain things in life, like other people’s promises or even trivial things like a trip to a highly praised restaurant, the chances of getting disappointed decrease significantly.

And when the good thing that you did not count on then occurs, you will feel an even deeper sense of happiness than you would have otherwise.

5. Stay Positive About Everything

Try to find something positive in whatever life throws at you. Everyone is allowed to give in to sadness and grief when bad things happen in life, but we must never let it consume us and make us give up all our hope for a better future. When you find yourself in your bleakest moments, try to get some distance.

Think about a distant future in which this negative situation will be way back in your past, because deep down you know that time heals all the wounds. Cling on to that and imagine all the nice things you are going to experience in your personal future, even if you can only think of very small things, but sometimes those are the most important.

0

5 DIY Ideas for Your Home

There is nothing more satisfying than completing a DIY project successfully and even more so, when visitors to your home ask where you purchased the item. You can use your DIY skills to entertain, organize and decorate with style, without having to spend a lot of money. We have included in this article, 5 DIY ideas for your home to help you get started.

1. Chandelier planter

The exterior of your home is just as important as its interior when it comes to home décor, since the outside of your house is the first thing that people see when they visit. Create a good impression with visitors with a stunning chandelier planter, that you can make from an old chandelier purchased from a thrift shop. Remove any leftover electrical wiring and paint the chandelier the color of your choice. When the paint is dry, place small potted plants in each of the chandelier’s arms and hang from a hook on your patio.

2. Pallet garden organizer

Garden tools left lying around can make the most beautiful of gardens look messy, but instead of buying an expensive storage system, you can make a sturdy, fully-functional garden organizer from a cheap and simple wooden pallet. Give the pallet a few coats of stain, add some strategically-placed hooks, and you have an organizer to hang on a wall for all your garden tools as well as your coiled hose. Attach a painted hanging pot to your pallet and you also have perfect storage for rags and your garden gloves.

3. Use decoupage to transform a table

Don’t throw out that old hand-me-down side table. Instead, give it a complete makeover with decoupage. Give the table two coats of metallic paint, let dry and then add a coat of metallic glaze to give the table an extra shimmer. When the glaze is dry, cut a scrap piece of wallpaper to fit the top of the table. Give the table a coat of decoupage glue, position the paper and press it down. Cover the table top with several further coats of decoupage glue, letting each coat dry before applying the next one. Finish off with a coat of spray sealant.

4. Make a butterfly jewelry display

Use butterfly brooches from your jewelry box, or buy a variety of cheap ones from thrift shops, car boot or garage sales and create a pseudo-scientific display to hang on a wall in your home. Use a water-thinned dark umber shade to paint a gesso-finish artist’s canvas, and then rub it off. Attach your collection of butterfly brooches to the canvas and outline their wingspans with a graphite pencil. Your butterflies will not only look colorful, but will also appear to be taking flight on the beautiful wall art you’ve created.

5. Suitcase storage table

If you have one or two spare suitcases that you don’t use, then why not change them into extra storage space? Clean the suitcases and varnish or paint them to fit in with the color scheme of the room and attach appropriate table legs to each corner of the suitcases to allow them to stand like tables, the table top being the suitcase itself. Apart from adding a bit of retro flair to a room, you have just transformed empty suitcases into very clever storage space for keeping books or storing bed linen at the foot of a bed.