Daily yoga. Regular sleep pattern, the data is in on this. Whole foods, the enteric nervous system (gut brain) produces 90% of our seratonin. Gardening. Stay honest and in truth so there is no internal conflict. Be present with family and friends. Pretty simple.

Thanks guys for this thread.

I don't exercise regularly as such, but I do cycle. For me, time in nature (cycling or walking), especially in the sun, is especially important. Gardening is another one.

I know sleep is important and regular sleep patterns is one thing I need to work on.

My food has improved lately, I eat more whole, proten-rich foods now as well as probiotics.

I don't have family here, but I do have friends. I could see them more often though.

I don't smoke and haven't consumed any alcohol in 6.5 years.

Plant medicine (ayahuasca in particular) has been helpful, as has been playing guitar which to me are two sides of the same coin.

I could be healthier diet wise , but I don't smoke or drink a lot


I exercise some

As far as staying happy , I watch a lot of funny movies and shows . If it's dark or deprave I try to avoid it and people like it and sarcastic , shallow , edgy people .

People who laugh , tell jokes , are generally focused on others and care I try to surround myself with .

I take time to think

I work but also work on things that I feel create positive change and are healthy for the environment , this is vey satisfying for me. To think and act towards preserving nature .either passively or being aware . Still , I have a carbon footprint , but who's perfect ?

I try to make the people i care about happy .

But mainly I look out for and search out happy situations , and try to not be to hard on myself as I'm human and prone to error but also try to graduate to higher healthy social esteems eg being a giving person while not being taken advantage of . Trying to study to be a doctor or gene therapist , and not so much for ego , but for healing others , to help

These things make me happy

Oh and sleeping in late as much as possible and coffee or tea outdoors first thing . Loving people who care to accept my love and return it especially . Comfort , After earning it .

Comedy , comedy , comedy as well . And beauty . I'm sure there are other thing s but these are the routine s and plant anti depressant s , aya vine , harmala s , tyrosine , tryptophan , salvia sometimes , and gardening like a lot of folks here , prob has a lot to do with light therapy

Oh and I micro dose a shit ton , about 20 mic every week to every other week at least sometimes for a few days on end and most of the time on two days straight . mushroom low dose I guess you would call it introspective therapy work every month or so going over things I can't see in my blind spots and things I need to address or tune to but I don't know if this makes me happy as much as keeping me aware of myself so I don't get in poor habits that would cause typical pain and suffering so I think in a way it helps address what not to do that would certainly bring unhappiness. Keeps me focused

Raw plant/fruit based diet
Melatonin/harmalas/b12/sunshine
Exercise/biking
Poi
Sunshine
Music (playing/listening/events)

I must share!! Earlier today I was upset about something!! Furious about the mailman mixing up apartments and I've got a package that should have been here weeks ago, still not here. I was so mad!

I sat down with my torch and my rig and my cannabis oil. I smoked dabs until I felt better. One after the other. I stopped counting around tenth dab. That was pretty close to the end anyhow. I felt so much better!!! Good medicine. When life gives us lemons, we smoke them away!!!

I feel this. I've burned through so many philosophies for staying happy and healthy over the years and at this point I just try to do the best I can lol. And also don't be so hard on myself. Lastly, at the end of the day, god bless marijuana.

Time to wake up and get stoned, friends.

*Healthy eating. I stopped binge drinking when I turned 30, and I would have been better off never starting. I make broccoli soup every week now, and do my best to limit salt in my diet.

*More thoughtful choices surrounding drugs. I'm 32 and it took a difficult breakup for me to realize that smoking weed daily was not helping my life. I also quit a 13 year on and off again opiate habit this past September. (!!!) I no longer smoke weed, I limit myself to one drink per day maximum, and I don't touch painkillers anymore. The only drug I currently use regularly is caffeine.

*Exercise. Even if it's just pushups, pullups, or going on a walk. Anything at all helps so much.

*Spending time outside in nature. It just makes sense

*Hobbies. I like reading books and taking care of houseplants, as well as learning about how to fix things.

---

What's missing for me now is a partner to share life with. I never understood how fulfilling that could be until this year, and after we broke up, it temporarily crushed me to a formless pulp. I'm still recovering from that actually, but at least the aftermath of it led me to start holding myself to be more accountable for my mistakes. I always thought I was a "loner" who didn't want or need a romantic relationship. Then one fell into my lap and it changed my entire perspective on life. Now I understand how enriching and elevating such a thing can be. I've started praying, despite being a secular person, that I may find such a feeling again before I leave this earth.

Happy to report, nearly a year later that my list still stands.

Here's to another one.

I guess what I'm trying to add here is consistency, healthy routine is sustainable.

I haven't heard of some things on that list. I'll have to check it out!

I've been knee deep in learning juggling the past 6 months

Happiness for me is very unsustainable. I'm a yoyo. Especially living alone and working through covid in a town I only moved to in Feburary. Only been out of town for one week in June visiting family and had friends come to visit one weekend in September. 2020. The year of no hugs.

I have learned over the years it's the responsibility of the tribe to keep eachother in good stead. Sharing victories and burdens etc. So faced with a severance of that I have been squatting for sanity. Body weight Squats. Great in tight spaces. If you have a mirror on the wall and can play peekaboo with yourself, all the better.

Re-watch old action movies. There's something about the marriage of rediculousness and triumph which is a great anti-depressant. I'm on 'Last action hero' tonight

Try not to get worked up when unhappy. It will own you.

Get hella worked up when happy. It will own you

Make eye contact with strangers and smile. My quote of the year:

"obviously you can't tell right now, but I'm smiling".

Listen to 80's music. Some time around the 90's people started sub-genre-ing hard and they scattered the good bits all over the place. 80s was peak technology:musicality compromise peak live band dancing. I swear down!

Learn to cook/prepare something you never ate before at least once a week.

Try to think of creative ways give yourself deadlines for things you ask of yourself. I thought I'd be making a ton of music through lockdown but haven't really as I haven't been motivated. Then recently I had an idea for a track and rather than thinking "oh yeah, that's cool" only to abandon it later, I'm spamming a couple of my buddies with recordings of my voice stating a time and a date followed by a deep voice saying "IT.IS.COMING" Tickled the shit out of myself with that one

Leave yourself notes also!

Trying to stay busy with the things I enjoy despite the ups and downs. Spending as much time as I can outdoors week to week. Reading when I can. Good food. Recently started messing around with calisthenics and I'm really starting to fall in love with it. Also a few good friends irl. Family also. Laughs and memories.

I think the key to happiness is staying in touch with your true emotions. If you have experienced losses, you must take your time to grieve and feel the sadness. If you are tired, you must allow yourself to be tired. As we grow up, we become masters at putting emotions aside, replacing sorrow with cynicism, happiness with sarcasm, take stimulants if we're tired and avoid silence.

So, in the core happiness is not in my opinion about smiling all the time, but being able to smile and cry when the time is right.

I think we all get satisfaction (happiness?) from giving of ourselves.

We give in many different ways, right? I support and encourage my wife as she's trying some things in her life that are quite new to her. I've been supporting some causes over the last couple of years, not necessarily with money, but by giving my time and involvement.

My friends try new/different methods or equipment, it's important to encourage and support them, even while giving them a hard time as they learn from their mistakes, that's just the way it is.

I have learned how important a hello can be to someone. I believe that is giving, as well. Common courtesy, where it isn't necessarily expected, please and thank you and "You're welcome", softening the world maybe.

Yeah. Maybe just giving. Giving love. Like some of our plant friends teach us.

Thank you, I appreciate your approach very much! You take these things for granted, until one day you lose them. Then you learn. Of if you don't, you have to repeat it over and over again.

I love this perspective. Additionally, I think that no matter who we are, even if we believe happiness is far away from us, true peace is never unobtainable--as Sydney Banks once said, we're all only a single thought away from a brand new experience. And I think that's beautiful.

I've never mentioned it before, but I cook most of my own dishes from scratch, and lift like my Mom is watching.

Girlfriends have come and gone, but my Mom is the best. The first time I ever deadlifted 405lbs was due to the made-up thought that my Mom was in the crowd. The first time I squated 315lbs was sheer fear though, but the first time I benched 225 was also to impress my mother.

That being said, I don't subscribe to the powerlifter ideology. I'm mainly about aesthetics. I just had to hit the 2-3-4 goal.

I could very well be wrong, but most trips include at some point the realization that your body is not up to snuff. It's not really there by not just societal standards, but your own.

There's also nothing greater-tasting than a dish created from scratch by your own hands. Especially complicated ones. Good food, and a good body. That's what my materialist portion wants from me, and I'm more that happy to oblige.

I can't even mention how many times I've been saved because I lift. As a man, the warrior entities look at these things, and see that you've put your body through trials, and appreciate that.