Conan said it best:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PQ6335puOc[/media]
Unfortunately such behavior is frowned upon in polite society
Seriously though, I agree with what others have said: friends & family, helping others, doing things you love(reading, gaming, cooking, music, whatever) and so on. But I'll add a couple of others:
Cultivating 1) a sense of gratitude and 2) a sense of wonder.
I find that if I'm not grateful for what my life is, its very easy to become ungrateful for what my life isn't. This is a constant effort, my life is not always what I want it to be due to chance or more often than not, poor choices on my part. But I keep at it.
And without a sense of wonder I miss so much of what makes the world beautiful and amazing: ice crystals, fall foliage, squirrels, dust motes in a sunbeam...well, you get the idea. A great way to get it back is to take a child to a park or the beach.
Lastly there's poetry. A poem can quickly take you away from the troubles & hardships of the moment, make you laugh or cry or just nod in agreement. I have a lot of favorite poets, but Mary Oliver is at the top the list.
Corylea, this ones for
you,