Happiness is the key to everything. In my opinion it is our purpose in life, yet I spent over 10 years of my life painfully unhappy. I do not know exactly when I first became depressed but it started to come to a head when I was about 12. Age 12 was when I began to self harm and have suicidal thoughts. Around this time I also was diagnosed with Graves disease, which is an auto immune disorder that affects the hormones. One of the many symptoms of the disease is depression, yet that is the one symptom that my excellent doctors never even looked into for me. (The lack of attention and the stigma related to mental health deserves its own post). My depression grew over the next year until I spent every night crying and self harming before I went to sleep. Most mornings I was able to wake up, go to high-school, get good grades, and hide my secret from almost everyone. I lived in a world of lies and fear which only worsened my depression. When I was about 16 I decided I was going to try to quit self harming myself, and something that I had convinced myself wasn’t a big problem started staring me in the face. The first time I tried to quit self harming lasted about 2 months and it was horrible. Instead of my depression being contained to my private evenings alone I became constantly depressed and my brain became obsessed with how to harm myself. I am grateful I powered through those 2 months before I gave in because that made the next time easier. I self harmed once and I quit again for 6 months, still with the constant depression but without the obsession with self harm. This pattern continued for several years, and each time I doubled the amount of time I went without self harming. Now I haven’t self harmed in about 6 years and haven’t had regular depression for about 3 years. The only time I saw a mental health professional was for about 3 months when I was 22 and in an abusive relationship that I was trying to get away from. I never took medication and I never saw a mental health professional for my depression. I wish I had because it probably would have been a quicker journey, and I highly recommend you seeing a professional if you have symptoms of depression. The point of me sharing this story with you is not to depress you, but to show you the level of unhappiness I overcame. Now people describe me as happy, energetic, positive, etc. and this is highly due to the work that I did on my own.

I spend my evenings like this now. Happy as can be. 🙂

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So I want to share with you my two simple tips I use to get happy.

• GET OUT – Go outside, run errands, get fresh air, move around, just get out of the house.

This was one of the biggest things for me when I was depressed. I would be so unmotivated to do ANYTHING let alone leave my house, but I knew if I could get myself to get out it would be a game changer. I always feel better if I get out of the house and do something. Sometimes it would take me hours of fighting with myself before I would actually do it, but it always worked for me.

•  EXERCISE – Go to the gym, run, walk, stretch, just move your body.

I did not start working out until 3 years ago. That is right: I NEVER worked out regularly before then minus gym class in high school. I never ran in my life and never played sports. But, if you noticed earlier, I wrote that I have not had regular depression for 3 years either. Coincidence? I think not. I started working out 3 years ago when I was getting out of an abusive relationship. Although I had a huge weight off my shoulders as soon as I got my ex out of my house it was an extremely stressful time in my life. He was constantly threatening me, stalking me, trying to turn people against me and breaking into my home. Every time I felt like letting myself go into a deep depression, self-harm, or give in to him I exercised. Exercise was the best fix for fighting off my depression before it fully developed.   So if you want to win the happiness game start exercising regularly and don’t stay cooped up all day and night. It may sound simple, but man were these things game changers for me. Pick one of these strategies today and tell me in the comments below how it impacts your happiness. And if you have a happiness tip I would love to hear it, please share it in the comments below!

Want more tips on living a happier life? Join me in the 21 Days of Smiling for daily happiness challenges!

Much love, Danielle