One of the strongest feelings that can help you, is happiness against pain. Whether your pain is more physical or mental - having fun and positivity often go hand in hand. 

When positivity is hard to find

But having fun in a life of pain isn't easy. It may be that because of the pain you can't do many things anymore. Or, that because of the pain, you no longer feel like doing things. Or, as is often the case, perhaps you are looking up to the possible negative consequences. And you have decided not to try again. 

There are plenty of reasons to have less fun in a life of pain. The question is, does this help you any further... And you can probably guess that the answer is 'no'. Happiness against pain could really be the way out.

When your brain concludes that there is danger, it hurts. Fun goes right against this. The networks that cause pain become less active as a result.

​​

Happiness against pain: exercise

There are two ways to have more fun. Doing more fun things, or being more aware of what is already going well. Today's exercise starts in the last way.

The exercise goes as follows: keep a positive diary every day for the coming period. Choose a fixed time in the day, where you name or write down three to five things that were positive. What have you enjoyed, enjoyed, or are you grateful for?

Tip: I have to be honest: I find this exercise incredibly difficult myself. I also enjoy nagging about something. So I always start by mentioning something that really annoyed me, was angry about or frustrated me. After that I mention the positive things.