5 Points to happiness: (written by a hopeless unbeliever) 1) Bad things happen, they happen too frequently and the trick is to not take it to personally. Hold onto the little things that shine within the darkness, remember that although their light might be fleeting it won't be lost completely. (A few months ago I sat silently and alone unable to see how I would ever feel happy again. Angry at the injustice of the situation. Taking each piece of bad news as a personal insult, a sign that the world was out to get me) 2) Go out and make things happen. Nothing will change unless you make it change. I know it's a cliché but its true. "you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you might just find you get what you need". So keep trying, things might not work out first time but no matter how hopeless things appear, keep trying. (An August evening and I find myself lying on the bed devoid of hope. No wish to try, just an urge to sink further down within myself. Hating the fact it had all got so hard. Just wanting to give up there and then) 3) Go out and face problems head on. Maybe they will knock you down but at least you were expecting them. Don't hide away and worry about something you could be doing something about and don't worry about something you can't do a thing about. (Sat safely within my house, dog next to me, I sit worrying. Scared to be alone, scared to face anyone . Worrying about something I wouldn't be able to change until morning. I waste time. I waste an evening of my life.) 4) Stop concerning yourself with what other people think about you, and whether or not they like you. Concentrate on them instead. Don't give them a reason and it is unlikely they will. Smile, and just enjoy being with them. (Walking down the street, feeling physically sick, convinced people are laughing behind my back. Scared to face anyone let alone talk out loud, shying away from everyone and anyone) 5) Things will get you down. Whether it is a specific well-defined incident or a gradual darkening of emotions which creep up on you while you are unaware, pulling you down draining you of positive thoughts. Whatever it is find a way to fight back, put the colour back into you life. Cling onto elusive moments of happiness and don't let ago. Dwell on positive emotions and leave those negative thoughts to perpetuate themselves. They certainly don't need your help. (I suddenly found myself writing to a friend saying "things have to started to seem good these days" and somehow they have. Somehow whether it was singing to happy songs about cars and the like, or walking through a field of golden leaves, or even writing to a boy not caring if they would write back but just hoping they would read my letter, the moments of happiness have overtaken the moments of sadness and I find myself believing that things could be ok just that little bit more) Take Care, Rachel _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+