13 wicked ways to stay positive in negative times

1. Gratitude, it is difficult to feel depressed when you are feeling grateful for something. Make a gratitude list. Write down all the things that you are grateful for and keep it somewhere close. Put it in your diary or on the back of a cupboard door, make sure you can see it daily and look for it every time you are feeling blue.

2. Volunteer, helping others will always have a feel good effect, and if you believe in Karma the good you do will come right back to you.

3. Friends, Stay in close contact with the friends or people who make you feel good. Happy, motivated people can pick you up.

4. Avoid negative people, anyone who regularly reminds you of bad times is to be avoided at all cost, if this is not possible try to zone out and think happy thoughts when they begin to speak!

5. Avoid negative news, don’t watch the negative news stories or read too many newspapers.

6. Exercise, it is widely believed that exercise can have a positive effect on depression as well as many other areas such as self esteem, confidence etc. check out this article

7. Eat Healthy , good nutritious fool can give you more energy and help you to cope better with the trials and challenges of modern life,

8. Avoid too much alcohol. Very often the first thing you reach for when you have had a bad day is a beer or a glass of wine. Be careful not to use this as a crutch, as alcohol is a depressant and isn’t going to help you feel good in the longer term.

9. Go to a class or group, social contact can help you to feel a part of your community and realise that you are not alone with your problems, and you may even enjoy the activity.

10. Try alternative therapies for health and wellbeing, try useful websites like http://head-health.blogspot.com/ or www.healing.ie for information on health and wellbeing

11. Observe your negative thoughts, if you become aware of your self talk you will start to see how often your thoughts are negative and critical as opposed to positive and nurturing. Each time you observe a negative thought stop yourself and try and replace it with a more supportive and encouraging one.

12. Watch a funny movie, They say laughter is the best medicine so much so that it is actually used as a therapy more information from this article in The Guardian

13: Don’t sweat the small stuff, “life is too short to be pissed off all the time” America History X