A Collection of Affirmations to Help Brighten Your Day

Affirmations can be empowering. They can make us feel better about ourselves and about the world around us. Affirmations can be a base of positive thinking practices to build upon. They can lift your mood and take the edge off your day.

Affirmations can be said to oneself, read, or spoken aloud. It does not matter how you absorb the message of an affirmation, just that you focus on it, if even for a brief moment.

Affirmations are powerful. They are packed with positivity and kernels of wisdom. Having affirmations ready at your disposal is the best idea. That encourages you to review them, and they are ready for you when you are. So read on the following affirmations to help brighten your day!

1. I Am Beautiful

I am beautiful because I was created as I am. I am beautiful, whether or not I think that when I look in the mirror. My uniqueness makes me special. No other person is exactly like me. I am a beautiful addition to this world, bringing my own distinct aura—in both action and appearance. I must not compete with or compare myself to others, after all, that is like comparing an apple to an orange. I am exactly as I was meant to be. I am special, a truly distinct person who leaves my own mark on this world, with my appearance and everything I say and do. In my uniqueness I am a creation that was meant to be just as I am. I am beautiful, in my own way.

2. The Rain Will End and a Rainbow Will Emerge

The one thing that is static is change. If I am going through a rough time, I need to remember that “this too shall pass.” Nothing lasts forever. Life is like a rollercoaster, with plenty of ups and downs along the way. I need to just find strength to hold on till tomorrow. Each tomorrow is a new beginning for me. It is a chance for change, of both myself and the circumstances I find myself in. Change can be scary too, but it offers the promise of new opportunities. Sometimes we welcome change, or pray for it. These are the times I need to remember that the storm will pass. The sun will come out. Life will go on and it will become brighter. The promise of a new day gives me hope. The storm will not last forever. If I just keep holding on, a new day will come, one that is better. Life is full of twists and turns. We cannot know what is around the corner. I need to have faith that I will survive the rain and make it through. A rainbow I shall see. The rain will end and a rainbow will emerge.

3. I Am Much Stronger Than I Think

I can handle whatever comes my way. I am strong and capable. I will manage what hurdles are thrown at me. I have faith in my abilities and competency. I will always do my best, and my best is good enough. I will not fear the future, because I have the inner confidence to face it, whatever it may bring. I know I can handle what will transpire tomorrow. I know this because I have handled events and circumstances in my past. And I know this because I try my best. I will continue to make my best efforts in navigating through this life. I will not worry about the future because I know I can handle what will come. Tomorrow will bring a new perspective and renewed energy. I am much stronger than I think.

4. There Is Light

No matter how dark a place I find myself in, I know there is light. I may not see it now, but it will emerge to me. There is light representing goodness all around me. I just must look for it in order to see it. The toughest times that come my way build strength. And I must just hold on. After darkness, there will be light. I need to remember in times of trial that I shall bathe in the light once again. The light represents promise—promise of a new day. Each morning, the sun rises. It signals the start of a new day, full of promise. The more we look for the light in each day that comes, the more we will see it. Sometimes the light is faint and sometimes it is brightly shining. Sometimes we may feel that we cannot see any light at all. But then there will be a glimmer of light, faint as it may be. And soon the light will shine upon us full force.

5. There Is So Much for Me to Be Grateful For

Today I will try my best to find gratitude in my heart. I can be grateful for having another day to live and to shine my special light. I can be grateful for the people in my life who keep me company and offer their support. I can be grateful that I am me, myself. I am a unique individual with my own special talents and qualities. I can be grateful for the sunrise and the beauty of nature. I can be grateful for that cup of coffee and danish that start my morning, or another food or drink that I enjoy in my day. I can be grateful for my pets, and all their beauty and companionship. I can be grateful for the children in my life, with their laughter and innocence. I will be grateful today. There is so much for me to be grateful for.

6. I Am Happy to Have Cherished People in My Life

Like the shade of a tree protecting us from sunburn, we are protected in this world by the caring of people in our lives. A tree is strong, and the emotions that connect us to others give us strength to rise up like a tall tree ourselves. The people in my life offer so much to me. Their special qualities surround me and expand my horizons. By being there for me, the people in my life give me support in getting through my day-to-day struggles. Together, we laugh, and we cry. It is the togetherness that is the important thing. The people in my life empower me to feel I can take on what comes my way in this world. I do not feel alone because of them. Having cherished people in my life gives me strength and brings happiness to my life. Their presence is enough. They do not need to be perfect. Having them in my life helps me to build a foundation of core strength. I am happy to have cherished people in my life.

7. It’s the Power of the Spirit

I will let the power of my spirit guide me and give me strength. We all have great power within ourselves. Our spirits are full of energy, strength and wisdom. We each have our own personal insights, emotions, experiences and goals—a unique inner life. We can always know that our spirits will guide us through the maze of life, leading us to what lies ahead by way of our unique inner life that constantly evolves through our individual life experiences. We can have faith that the power of our spirit lies always within ourselves. It is that spark that motivates us to get up every morning and keep on trying. Life can throw hurdles before us, but the trials and tribulations of life make us stronger. Our spirit within is a flame that burns brightly through the storm. It’s the power of the spirit that keeps us growing stronger and stronger every day. The strength of the spirit inspires us to stand tall and let the light of our souls shine bright.

Conclusion

Affirmations can be a powerful tool in helping us to feel good inside. Whether we read them to ourselves or memorize an affirmation and repeat it in our minds, affirmations can have a positive effect on our mood. Affirmations can help to clear worry and sadness. They help us to focus on positivity instead of the negative thoughts that can bring us down. So try utilizing affirmations in your life, and see how it improves your outlook!

10 Steps to Realizing Inner Happiness

 Happiness is that sometime elusive thing that we all want. Who does not want to be happy? But what is happiness really? Happiness is when you feel good generally. It can comprise feelings of inner peace and contentment. Happiness means different things to different people. Some seek adventure and excitement to feel happy. Others seek comfort and predictability. It all depends on our unique qualities and preferences, what happiness means to us.

Happiness is not always something that just happens. Sometimes we need to make an effort to attain happiness. There are things we can do to make our sense of happiness blossom. Read up on the following guidelines to help you in your quest towards happiness.

1. Surround Yourself With Positive People

The people around you have an undeniable effect on your state of happiness, or lack thereof. If you are spending time with negative people, do not be surprised if their negativity rubs off on you. Being in a negative mindset is not the base to build happiness upon. Conversely, spending time with positive people can buoy one up in mood. The positivity rubs off on you and brightens your day. So choose who you spend time with wisely in your quest for happiness. Choose positive people to create a positive force in your life.

2. Set Goals for Yourself

It is difficult to feel a sense of motivation if we have no goals. Setting goals for yourself fosters a sense of challenge. It spurs motivation. A goal gives you a reason to get out of bed in the morning and start your day. Motivation contributes to our feelings of happiness. Goals should be realistic. They should be something that with effort we can accomplish. Setting unrealistic goals will not serve to increase our sense of happiness, in fact it will likely do the opposite, causing us to feel bad about ourselves and therefore less happy. We want to feel good about ourselves to increase happiness. Accomplishing goals creates a sense of pride in oneself. That sense of pride contributes to one’s self-esteem. Having higher self-esteem increases happiness, because with healthy self-esteem you are happy with yourself. So set (realistic) goals to increase your happiness.

3. Do the Things You Enjoy

In order to increase our happiness, it is important to spend some time doing things we enjoy. This could be listening to music, watching your favorite show on Netflix, cooking, partaking in a hobby, or just relaxing. It is important to carve out time to do the things we enjoy. Leisure activities can act as a happy distraction from troubles, a time to heal from our stressors. TV shows and movies can offer an escape from our reality, an escape that gives us, at least temporarily, relief from our problems. Listening to music can soothe and calm us, energize and uplift.

Life can be hectic, and taking time for enjoyable activities can fall on the backburner. We may believe that it is not of importance for us to have that time for fun. But nurturing our happiness is important, and taking time for the activities we love is part of nurturing our inner happiness. So don’t feel guilty the next time you watch your favorite show. You deserve that leisure time, and it will serve to increase your happiness.

4. Find Your Spiritual Center

Getting in touch with one’s spiritual side can be very uplifting to one’s psyche--whether that means practicing a religion, independent prayer, meditation, or quiet reflection. Finding one’s spiritual center can help one attain a sense of inner peace. Life can be very hectic, and taking the time for spiritual reflection can easily fall to the wayside. But nurturing one’s spirituality is important to increase one’s happiness. Simply spending time in nature can help to guide our spiritual growth. The beauty of nature is awe-inspiring and can lift our spirits and serve as a backdrop that welcomes our quiet reflection. It is in those quiet times that we can get in tune with our inner spirit and find our way to inner peace and increased happiness.

5. Take Time for Physical Activity

Taking time for physical activity is another way to boost one’s feelings of happiness. Physical activity gets our metabolism going and stimulates hormones that make us feel good. Physical activity can mean structured exercise, like working out in a gym or running, or it can be the walk you do for your morning commute. Dancing is a wonderful form of exercise that most anyone can do. Exercise is an individualized activity. We can all exercise in our own way, and in so doing, pump up our energy level and increase feelings of happiness.

6. Practice Positive Self-Talk

What we say to ourselves in our own minds has a direct bearing on our happiness. Negative statements about oneself or one’s life psyche one out. They make you feel low and even without hope. The negative statements could not be more personal than coming from you yourself. Ironically, ideally you should act as your own best friend. But when you make negative statements to yourself, you are acting like an enemy.

Negative self-talk can become a bad habit that can take effort to break free from. But with diligence, you can break free. The first thing you need to do is to catch yourself when you are engaging in negative self-talk. It can be helpful to take an action once you have caught yourself, like clapping or pinching yourself. This reinforces the fact to you that what you are doing is wrong. Next, replace the negative statement with a positive one. Dig deep if you must and find some positive statement, however small, to say to yourself.

Positive self-talk buoys you up. Over time, it helps you to gain confidence and to feel good about yourself and your life. The positive statements can run the gamut. They can be most anything, as long as they are positive. They can be about yourself, an aspect of your life, a person in your life, or your pet, for example. The task is to come up with some statement that is positive, and that is all. Practice positive self-talk and feel your happiness rise.

7. Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

In this modern age, we are offered a peek into other people’s lives, including the rich and famous, through social media. It is easy to get caught up in a game of comparison. Seeing the highlight reel of another person’s life can easily make us feel that our own life is lacking. But we have to remember that what is displayed on social media is just that, a highlight reel. Everybody has their own set of problems. These are just usually not displayed on their social media feed. It is important to remember that, and to not get caught up in comparing oneself to the highlights inundating us on social media. The focus should be on one’s own life. And if you are going to compare, compare your own life to your life in the past. This can bring insights and motivation. Self-improvement should be your focus. So stop comparing yourself to others, and feel your happiness grow.

8. Focus On Self-Care

Our lives can be busy and hectic, and sometimes self-care can fall to the wayside with all that we have to do. But it is important to put self-care on your to-do list too. Taking time to care for yourself lays a foundation for your personal happiness. It signals to you that you are important. It exhibits self-love. We all need time to destress and relax. Those times of self-care can rejuvenate us. Self-care can include anything from taking a relaxing bath to eating nutritional food, caring for one’s appearance, or spending time doing destressing activities that we enjoy. Taking that time for self-care is crucial to one’s happiness. Life shouldn’t be made up of constant stress and constantly focusing on others. That is not an optimal situation for our happiness to thrive. Focus on self-care too in order to allow your happiness to thrive.

9. Practice Gratitude

The feeling of gratitude leads to a sense of happiness. Gratitude can be cultivated. Taking time in your daily life to think about the things you are grateful for is a habit worth developing. One can write down those things in a list or journal, or just contemplate them in one’s thoughts. We all have something to be grateful for. In the rush and stress of daily living, we may not take the time to think about what we are grateful for. That is why it is good to develop a habit of remembering what you have to be grateful for. Practice gratitude and feel your happiness expand.

10. Live in the Present Moment

Focusing on the present moment helps one to destress. Focusing on the past can lead to feeling regret. Focusing on the future can lead to worry. The past is over and the future is not yet here. But what we do have is the present. It is the here and now. Living in the present moment helps one to live more fully. It is the present where new memories are being made. You do not want to lose that time by thinking too much about the past or future, when the present is right here. Focusing on the present will help you to seize the moment, instead of letting it slip by without fully experiencing it. Live in the present moment to increase your happiness.

Conclusion

Happiness is that thing that we all want. Some of us chase it; some of us hope it comes our way. Happiness is about finding our place in this world. It is about finding a balance in one’s life. Our outside circumstances contribute to our level of happiness, as do our inner thoughts and mental state. So looking for happiness involves looking outward, as well as looking inward. There are things we can do to increase our happiness. Follow these guidelines and you will be on your way to happier times!