I was writing a comment to add to this post written earlier, and thought my comment deserved its own post.

This is a great post and just the thought of doing this can help others but, I think that the post he wrote was missing the core component of just how to do this. For some people, it might be easy. "Sure, I'll just be happier." For many others, you may have hated on the idea of "faking it until you make it," or you may have agreed to go forward... But, we all know you're going to crash and burn in three days when you're short sleep, stub your toe, or miss 40 calories from one of your meals. Fake it until you make it works amazingly. But you won't actually make it out, unless you know how. You will question everything without a solid backing.

So, let's talk about how to actually move from pretending we are happy, to actually making ourselves happy. Because either way you have to know what to do, the water will eventually boil over if not and you will burst from all the pretending, or get lost on your way from a lack of understanding.

Body

I have had a shit life, and I don't mean that I was just dealt a bad hand, but that I have been in the wrong place at the wrong time on multiple occasions (this is short for: I was a fucking idiot on multiple occasions and; I know it was my fault and I have to own my life.). But, no one around me knows that other than a couple good friends and you, the people who just read this. Everyone else in my life hasn't the slightest clue what's shaped me into who I am today. Honestly, I don't entirely understand how I have prevailed. It surprises me that I have... I find myself to be extremely lucky. I told this to my best friend once (maybe 10 years or so ago.), that I was lucky... and he laughed and said he wouldn't call it that, he said it's just who I am.

So, for those of you who want to get, or successfully "pretend" to be happy, here is how:

The first piece of information I am going to drop on you is related to illimitableman. He has a piece called "How to be happy." If you don't stop what you're doing and google it now, you're missing out. This is, without a doubt, one of the best things I've ever read. And not just as in what's been written by illmitableman, I mean that I have read, ever.

The next, and very obvious to those who have been here a while, is the philosophy of stoicism. If you haven't read about it, pick it up. "Meditations, a new translation," by Gregory Hayes is a great first stop.

This goes without saying: physical fitness, diet, and meditation are all at the cornorstone of increasing your happiness and thus drawing more people into your life.

Lastly, the big one, and why I decided to write this post; your mindset.

A negative mindset can sink you. Remember how my friend said, "it's just who you are," to me? Well, what he was talking about was my mindset. I didn't get it the moment he said it, not on that level. But, at the time, it was my ability to always see over the horizon.

When I think back, I didn't have a moment in time where I doubted myself enough to cause me to give up hope. I wasn't focused on the consequences/happenings of that moment, because my mindset saw into the future me. It eliminated my doubts. The best way I can describe it; knowing you have a winning hand, the best possible hand, while your opponents are still betting. It doesn't matter what they say, what anyone does, or what kind of shit they talk... because you've got every single one of those fucks beat. They're all cooked when they eventually go up against you. So you sit there and smile, just so sure of what is to come.

The first thing I am going to tell you is that I lost that feeling. I did. A few years back, something happen to me that made me lose that for the first time in my life. You see, before it didn't matter what happened, because I was sure. But, when I lost that thought, the one thing I had going for me was the power to look at things like this... I lost everything else. Something finally pushed me over the edge and it extinguished this invincible mindset that I had, the thing which made me successful. The one thing I had that made me fear nothing even at my worst moments.

The next thing I am going to tell you is that I got it back. And I did because I followed what I am about to tell you: positivity is a choice. A positive mindset is up to you.

You can't control the weather, your genetics, the things that bring you hell, but you can control how you see them. You can control the light you view them in. I know that many people won't believe me, but act like I said it would be easy. It's not. It won't be. It will take you constantly correcting your thinking patterns and filling out your time with positive activity to baisically distract you until the "negative chains" start to fall off you. And over this period you will start to notice there is no more fighting off negativity, you've done it.

If your mind is in the gutter and you randomly hear yourself say, "I don't give a fuck," when it relates to your well being or the future of your life, you are there. And it is tough to get out of, I know because I have been in that shit. And, you guessed it, the negativity started to compound. More and more and more. It turned into a negative echo chamber in my mind. One thing went wrong, than another, than another. And then, things that weren't even a big deal went wrong, but they seemed like they were a big deal because "fuck it, let's just add another problem." Then I became the most weak I have ever been, I started with the self pity. "Oh poor me." And there is nothing weaker than this, even when no one can hear you.

There it goes, compounding. But, no one ever told me that I had a choice. I had a choice to be positive. If I had no other choices in what lead me here, at least I had a choice now that I was here.

Guess who was around me when I was at this point and realized it was a choice? Negative people. And that's if I had that. Because most people don't want to be around that shit. Negative attitudes attract negative attitudes.

So today, you must understand positivity is a choice. You must rid yourself of negative people (or find some positive ones to be around if there are none.). You must work on your mind, body, and overall health. You must quit masturbatory activities. You must set out on a trail of self discipline. And I can guarantee you, when you start this process, alter your mind state, and get the ball rolling, you will be happy. And that happiness will compound because you will draw positive happy people in and it's affects will be two fold.