tips – The Cheerful Times

How To Be Happy: Forge a Feel-Good Playlist

August 24, 2014January 4, 2017 by Kelsey BaRoss, posted in How to be Happy

No one can deny the powerful influence music has on the way you feel. One moment you can be on top of the world, and then Evanescence’s My Immortal comes on and you can forget about ever feeling happy again.

To avoid having such emotions sprung on you without warning, crafting playlists for specific moods and situations can be a very handy tool. Whether you’re trying to keep a feeling going strong or influence yourself into a productive mood change, creating collections of songs that embody your desired results can be the quickest and easiest way to success.

My sister rockin' out to being an only child 24ish years ago — My sister rockin’ out to being an only child 24ish years ago.

Since this is the How to Be Happy series, obviously it’s time to discuss making your very own happy playlist! My personal happy playlist makes me feel like I just received the greatest news over and over again, every time I listen to it. Each song is so catchy, so dance-y, and so filled with feel-good energy that I can’t help but boogie my way to cheerfulness.

So, how should you go about starting your own happy playlist? Continue reading “How To Be Happy: Forge a Feel-Good Playlist” →

How To Be Happy: Give Without Giving Up

July 20, 2013January 4, 2017 by Kelsey BaRoss, posted in Dogs!, How to be Happy

“I wish I could do something like that but I just don’t have the time!”

said every person ever.

Dedicating some of your time and energy to a good cause sounds so ideal to many, but it’s often dismissed–staying just an ideal and not becoming a reality. Whether we’re spending our time working, going through school, interning, running never-ending errands, or doing chores around the house, it seems like there’s no time to squeeze in something that doesn’t have a direct and immediate impact on our lives. Things we all would love to do we just don’t seem to have time for anymore, including giving back to others.

Hey! Cheer up, busy bee! Doing something that makes you feel good isn’t an added stress, it’s a stress reliever! As impossible as it may seem in your life right now, it is entirely possible to lead the giving lifestyle you’ve been yearning to lead without sacrificing a thing that you’ll miss. Do you want to know how and why?

When you’re giving your time to something you’re passionate about and that you really love, it doesn’t feel like you’re giving up anything at all.

About a year ago, I needed a life pick-me-up… I was growing increasingly tired of the “me”-driven behavior that naturally reigns supreme in my collegiate age group. The circumstances surrounding growing up lead us to act in this way, but it’s just not who I am. So, I began my personal endeavor to start donating my time and efforts to places that could use it more than, say, …Facebook.

As a busy college student, I started with a very small commitment that I actually did not complete until recently:

locks-of-love-before-and-after-haircut — Bye bye, mermaid hair! Hello, Locks of Love! My “Before” and “After”

Since that time last year I tried my hardest to grow my hair out to straggly mermaid lengths, getting it chopped off and donated to Continue reading “How To Be Happy: Give Without Giving Up” →

Where in the World is Kelsey San Diego?

July 9, 2013August 24, 2014 by Kelsey BaRoss, posted in Etc.

Summer is not summer. Well, at least it’s not the summer that I knew when I was a wee little Kelsey. Instead of gloriously laying around all day or running in circles with my playdates outside, I’ve been interning my butt off to prepare for post-graduation (one more year!).

That I say, of course, in the most endearing way possible. I love my internships. They’ve been super valuable and educational experiences, and have given me more affirmation that I’m on the right career path.

So, where in the world have I been? Ironically, I haven’t been blogging a lot recently because Continue reading “Where in the World is Kelsey San Diego?” →

How to Be Happy: Throw Out the Bad Apples

March 27, 2013January 9, 2019 by Kelsey BaRoss, posted in How to be Happy

Throw Out the Bad Apples | The Cheerful Times

In my last post I introduced The Cheerful Times‘ new feature, the How to Be Happy series. I would like to kick off this new addition with a somewhat heavier first tip that holds a lot of importance to me personally: throw out the bad apples.

We meet a lot of people in life. Some of them are insanely wonderful, some of them are downright unpleasant. Some of them start out being insanely wonderful and then turn out to be downright unpleasant. And some, of course, just straight out suck. With all the good people we have in our lives, why is it that we continue to hold on to (and often give priority to) those who make us feel a certain incompleteness?

I struggled with this for a long time. Throughout high school and a few years after, I put so much energy into Continue reading “How to Be Happy: Throw Out the Bad Apples” →

Introducing: The “How to Be Happy” Series

March 9, 2013May 30, 2016 by Kelsey BaRoss, posted in Dogs!, How to be Happy

Today was a beautiful day! It’s the beginning of March and my college campus was already blessed with a 60 degree preview to spring. One of the things I love most about randomly gorgeous days is the renewed motivation they instill in people. Suddenly everyone forgot about the winter blahs and being trapped in their poorly-lit dorm rooms by the outside wind chill, and instead played Frisbee on the field, watched the baseball game from the top of the hill with their friends and families, and even gave suntanning an early try.

The feeling today’s weather gave me inspiration for a new blog series: “How to Be Happy”. There may not be an overwhelming amount of tips highlighted in the series that are positively groundbreaking, but that’s not the point! It’s all about taking things that mean a lot to me personally and sharing my perspective. It’s nice to be reminded of ways to make us breath a little easier, things we often forget about when trapped in the depths of our busy, stressful lives.

The first post of the series will premiere sometime this week. In the meantime, please enjoy this picture of a happy pug in a turtle costume… it certainly cheered me up!