Have you noticed that more smiles are disappearing? Is it a trend to look depressed and bored, or have we simply lost our happiness? Darling, it's time to get back into action!

After spending long hours observing people in different places and situations, it occurred to me: why are so many people not smiling anymore? I constantly see depressed, angry and dissatisfied faces on the streets, trains, restaurants, etc. Not often do I see happy faces with genuine, bright and big smiles. Where did those open, heart-warming smiles that melt-the-worries away, disappear to? Is smiling out, or are people scared of wrinkles? I think it’s time to bring joy and happiness back on the menu!

Have you noticed that happiness is rarely a topic of conversation these days? How many times lately did you meet up with friends and hear stories about something bad happening? How often do you hear stories about amazing wonderful things happening to others that truly inspire you? Unfortunately these days, we encounter more negativity than positivity. Look around you next time on the street and observe people’s face… it’s as if they have grown a permanent frown!

We all have baggage and problems that we have to deal with, along with the normal daily grind, but how do we want to go through the process? Depressed, or positively motivated to find a good solution? Can it be that we are subconsciously blocking our happiness? Lately I have heard over 100 conversations about how awful the weather is. They use the bad weather as an excuse to be grumpy. The rain is not so bad. Try opening your window, lying in bed, and listening to the rain coming down. It’s very soothing, therapeutic and quite lovely. We must try to make the unpleasant things in life somehow manageable for us. We must learn to love ourselves. By the way, don’t worry, the sun has not left the Universe, it is just waiting for all of us to stop complaining.

A good friend of mine, let’s call him Mr. Chillax, recently lost his company, went through insolvency, suffered through a breakup, and lost most of his money. This was a huge shock to him. What would you do in his case? Well, Mr. Chillax walked around with a smile upon his handsome face. He was not in denial or pushing the truth away, quite the opposite, he decided not to give up. I was so impressed with his heroic behavior. I prepared myself for the worse with him, and he surprised us all by showing us how dear his life was to him. He earned my respect forever! It’s much harder to stay positive during tough times, rather than falling into the deep, dark hole that starts in your mind, and ends up sucking you into the hell fires of depression. Now Mr. Chillax has a wonderful job, a loving girlfriend, and is slowly saving for the future. I think that everything happened for a reason, because his life is much better now than it was when he had his company. He was rewarded because he stayed strong and did not lose his faith during the hard times!

Sometimes plans do not work out as we intended them to be, we lose our savings and/or businesses, not to mention jobs we love so much. We go through breakups, divorces and illnesses. We get used and accused, judged and beaten by life. We undergo suffering, pain and sometimes even humiliation. So how do you want to deal with all of this crap? The way I see it is that we only really have two options. 1. We dwell upon our pain/sadness and feel sorry for ourselves, waiting for the pity of others. (This turns us into our own victims.) Or: 2. We make a choice to be happy and fight for ourselves. A friend of mine, Leo, always say, “Pity you can get for free, but jealousy must be earned.”

Even if the soul doesn't want to laugh, there are tricks to keep us happy: eating your favorite food, and not counting calories, spoiling yourself with a tiny little gift, meeting up with your best friend for a delicious glass of apple wine, taking time for your hobbies, etc. Do whatever makes you happy. What works for me - especially if I'm in a bad/sad mood - is to put on my favorite song, and force myself to dance and sing like crazy! At first it feels strange, but then I get into a good mood! This is the Law of Attraction: happiness attracts happiness. Sometimes you must force yourself to think happy thoughts and feel happiness, in order to attract more of it into your life. Its either this, or let yourself sink in misery. The choice is really yours. Fight for yourself, and make yourself happy. This doesn’t mean that you must push your problems away. This means that you have to make a plan to attack your problems with a positive attitude!

I was going through a break up a few years ago, and was feeling awful. My heart was torn into a million pieces. I was moping around my flat for weeks. I did not want to go out, or see anyone. I was comfortable in my sanctuary at home in my pink pyjama. My mom came to visit me and started screaming at me. I was so shocked! I thought: why the hell is she being so mean to me? I am going through such an emotionally hard time. She is making me feel even worse! She said, "Galia, it's enough! How much longer will you sit here crying for a man that did not even appreciate you? No one died! Go wash your hair, put on something nice, we are going out!" I tried to resist, but my mom wouldn't accept it. I was forced to make myself look human again and leave the flat. This was the best thing that could of happened to me. My mom said that being a good friend doesn’t mean to give pity, but rather to kick ass/motivate and help. "You poor thing" and crying together wont help! You must force yourself/friends to move on and be happy again! This is called survival, and loving yourself. Let’s try to make the effort to be happy. How can we start? With a beautiful, genuine, and warm smile!