What are some of the most effective ways to make friends, family, or loved ones happy? Is there one effective way to make anyone happy?
My experiences during school, specifically high school are probably the same as everyone else, generally everyone has a couple of problems, big or small that are bothering them. Hopefully during and after reading this you will be able to help your friends and family be happy although you can't always help with their problems sometimes listening and comforting them are enough to get them to the next day.
Quotes Make Me Look Smarter
“The best feeling of happiness is when you’re happy because you’ve made somebody else happy.” - Unknown
I'm the kind of person that is only happy when people around me are happy so as you can imagine being in high school for me is hell, almost nobody is happy and those who are i'm not currently high enough in the social ladder to associate with.
The Idea
The Idea is to try and make as many people happy as I possibly can in the next eight days. All of my ideas will include people that I know so you wont get to know specifics to keep everyone's privacy safe and also because it limits how much I have to write because i'm lazy. Changing small habits can very quickly change everyone's mood. If you have a loud personality and someones angry tone it down a little, If someone is sad cheer them up by doing silly things and activities you normally wouldn't do, or even just being there for them can help someone through a tough day. You have to understand your limits there is a point where you will be doing more harm to yourself then good for your friend or loved one.
"You simply have to put one foot in front of the other and keep going." - George Lucas
George Lucas makes it sound so easy doesn't he? During my project I feel like one of my biggest struggles will be staying happy for eight days. My philosophy is that if I am happy that I will hopefully create the same effect in those around me. I also have an article to backup my statement so i'm not just making things up. Smart huh? The article explains how happiness is "contagious" so if i'm happy hopefully my friends and loved ones will be too.
Although they say you cant buy happiness in this article it's proven that spending money on other people for the intent on making them happy will in fact make you happier as well, so you can purchase happiness just not in the way you might think.
My first attempt will be purchasing my friends favorite candy and surprising her in the morning with it. I intentionally do it in the morning because it's the easiest time to catch her off guard because surprises are the best and I find that she is worse off in the morning so hopefully it will have a better effect on her day.
First Results?
How do you tell when someone is happy? During this challenge i'm not sure if I could positively tell that they are happy or not. My hope is that later on when they actually use what I purchased that they will be happy for a little. Although I don't know if they are happy or not at least I know I tried, every small act counts right?
Ugh... Maybe this wont be as easy as I thought it would be. The idea behind this was that it was the thought that counts behind your gift, but maybe my intentions weren't good enough? Good luck future me.
Ask how their doing
When was the last time you sat down with a friend and asked how their life was going or been asked how your life was going? Sometimes all someone needs is to know that you care. Positive attention is generally something everyone needs and wants, if you want to make somebody happy notice them, compliment something about them something new or old anything, and be positive about it don't bring yourself down at the same time for example "nice shoes, wish I had shoes" sure it's sad you don't own shoes but you're trying to compliment them not bring attention to yourself.
Change a strangers day
This one is generally the easiest all you need to do is go a little out of your busy day to help someone else no matter how small or big. Leave a bigger tip when you finish a meal, compliment a stranger it doesn't need to be weird just compliment something about them that maybe would usually go unnoticed like "nice hair" or "nice shoes bro". For this one i'm going to go out to eat and leave a bigger tip then usual nothing big. I'm very shy so complimenting someone would be a really big struggle for me, but I don't mind complimenting someone I know so i'll let you know how my next challenge goes. You might not get to see their reaction but you'll definitely help in some way.
Second Results
I'm very shy so I thought complimenting someone would be really hard but it wasn't so bad i'm just not sure i actually helped or anything, it's really hard to tell if someone is happy or not. They just smiled and walked away, they probably think I'm weird.
Definitely going great right now.
The article I based the complimenting idea on.
Be Silly
"Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know." - Ernest Hemingway
Be silly, do things you would never do normally with someone, build a fort of pillows and watch a movie, go buy the biggest thing of ice cream you can and walk down the beach, go to the movies but bring in fast food with you (make sure you bring a bag because i'm not sure if they will let you bring in fast food). Just do something different and weird, some other examples would be Karaoke, Sleepovers?, LAN Party, Cook together, Picnic or explore the city with friends.
Not only do these generally put a smile on everyone's face it brings people together to experience things you might never do again or maybe you'll experience something you will want to do again and again.
Third Results
The problem with this challenge is that there are exams coming up so not very many people have any free time, and if they do it's not usually spent with me. During this one I hung out at the mall with a buddy of mine, although none of us really need cheering up it was still fun and to be honest it was nice to have a break from trying to make everyone else happy and for once try and make myself happy.
This was probably the most effective one mostly because nothing was planned we just enjoyed the experience and roamed around.
Is There a Definite Way to Make Anyone Happy?
In short no, everybody has different likes and tastes, not everyone will like the silly things nor like having money spent on them. One thing everyone likes though is someone who really cares, if you genuinely care about them tell them that, not everyone will be happy even when you want them to. It's important to stick with them throughout the good and the bad for without the bad there would be no good, sick I made a cool quote. I found throughout my project no matter how hard I tried I couldn't seem to make people happy and if I did I never saw the results and i'm not sure if I actually helped. The original goal was to make 8 people happy one for each day but at this point I would be alright with just one.
Do Something Personal
Sure buying a gift might be really nice for someone but if you're looking for something more or maybe you don't have the cash for a fancy gift. A personal gift generally means more to people and shows you care. If you have Pinterest or something like it that allows you to find DIY gifts for people, attempt to make something and it will mean more then just purchasing them something random off the self.
For the personal gift thing i'm going to make a project for my mom don't know what yet but i'll let you know during my reflection.
Fourth Reflection
Its a lot easier to make someone happy when they have their life together. My mother really enjoyed the gift I made her but she was also concerned I did something or wanted something because I wouldn't normally make random gifts for people. She was definitely happy about it though which made me happy in turn.
It's hard to make someone happy when they have a lot of things to worry about, you think about your problems before anything else.
The Small Things Are Important
Provide a time to hangout, show you care about them by sending them a message randomly, help without being asked to just show that someone is there for them through the good and the bad. If they need time alone give it to them don't pester them you're not helping them that way. Provide a way out from situations they might not want to be in, don't force them to do something with you sometimes they need time alone to think.
"Some days are just bad days, that's all. You have to experience sadness to know happiness, and I remind myself that not every day is going to be a good day, that's just the way it is!" - Dita Von Teese
Sometimes you just have to accept that someone is sad and without it they would never be happy, it meaning sadness. Support everyone through these times but sometimes you cant solve the issue, just be there for them when they need it and help them up when they can't stand by themselves.
"The word 'happy' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness." - Carl Jung
Hope this not very real hug gets you through to the next day.
Why?
Sure making people happy is nice and all but what benefit does it have to you? Well based on this article happiness is contagious so making someone else happy will in turn make you happier, Helping other people is also a nice thing to do that doesn't take a long time out of your day to do, pass on your kindness and hopefully it will makes its way back to you eventually. Friendship is also all based around bringing your friends up so they can help you up after, sticking through the bad because without the bad there is no good.
Did it Actually Help Me?
No, in fact I might be worse off then I was before. Never have I ever felt so useless in helping people, there is nothing I could do to help my friends, the only thing this project has opened my eyes to was that sometimes time is the only thing that can make someone happy. I wish everyone the best of luck finding happiness but in some cases you just have to wait out your current situation and hope it gets better.
Should I sign off with love?
-Love
-Kind Regards?