15 Ways to Be Happier in Not-so-Happy Times

Should I even try to find ways to be happier in the middle of a pandemic?

Isn’t there something inherently wrong with that? Well no, I don’t believe there is.

Every weekday morning, Brodie and I go for a long walk. Come rain or shine, we’re out there stepping it out, stopping only for interesting smells. I’ve come to learn smell hunting is the singular most important point of the walk.

For him, sniffing is dog-existentialism.

How is it that a dog can find such joy, nose to the ground, vacuuming up every micro-hint of a scent? Brodie is mostly lab… but when his inner beagle kicks in, he’s in dog heaven.

I enjoy our walks too, but when he comes home tail-waggin’ and panting, with a big dog-sized smile from ear to floppy ear… I’m sometimes feeling cheated out of my fair share of tail wags. We humans have made life more complicated, and as a result, much more difficult to find ways to be happier.

So, what’s the human equivalent of… sniffing?

Brodie and I cross paths with a lot of other dogs and a lot of other humans on our morning walks. And I have to say that by and large, the dogs seem to be doing better than many of the humans.

Well ‘Duh!’ Dogs aren’t able to understand the pandemic and the angst it seems to be causing the humans. So, they should be doing better, right?

What makes some people mostly happy, and others mostly down and out?

The thing is, every couple of weeks or so, we’ll encounter an outlier who seems to be pegging the happiness meter. Steppin’ it out with a real kick in her step, a big smile and a positive vibe you can actually feel.

What does she know? Hasn’t she heard?

I have no empirical data to present. My post today is based purely on observation, plus my curiosity about the aforementioned question… “What’s the human happiness inducing equivalent of sniffing all the smells?” (alt. ways to be happier)

Last week, a friend shared a meme from the Entrepreneur Mindset Facebook group called, “The Habits of Happy People” which if anything, got me thinking about my ways to be happier question.

The meme illustrated 6 simple habits…

1. Don’t show off,
2. Learn daily,
3. Laugh more,
4. Talk less,
5. Ignore nonsense, and
6. Help others.

Okay, so we could probably agree those are a good start.

Some are better than others, but they don’t quite get us to dog-sniffing heaven, do they? Still determined to find out more, I was off to the secret vault at LifeUntucked HQ.

The first nugget I found was a post I had saved by Joshua Becker at BecomingMinimalist.com. The title really sums it up… “If You Are Looking for Reasons to Be Happy, You’ll Probably Find Them”. Tell me that’s not true. Same goes for the contrary, right? (You can check it out here). 

I found a few others too. Happy humans also…

• Exercise regularly,
• Take part in recreation (aka – play!),
• Produce more,
• Are happy for others,
• Listen to more upbeat music,
• Have learned what ‘enough’ means, and
• Simply choose to be happy.

Brodie just dropped in as I was writing, so I asked him if he had any canine sense to add. He told me it reminded me of one of his favorite quotes from the novel, The Sea, The Sea…

One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats, and if some of these can be inexpensive and quickly procured so much the better.”

–  Iris Murdoch, British novelist

“Now, that’s what makes me happy!”– Brodie

It’s about making time for the things that make you happy. The things that fill you up instead of squeezing out that last drop of heart and soul.

It’s about investing in the things that are important, in things that matter. It’s about being with people who care, because it’s not so much what you do, but how you do it… you know, with some heart. 

Yes, these are challenging times that will test the best in us all. But, you know, we can learn so much from our dogs…

A couple of good long walks, a few naps here and there, some playtime, and a bowl of hearty kibble twice a day sure can go a long way.

Watch out for the pack and carry on, my friends.

Be untucked.

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