How To Be Happy.

Dear Future Tim,

I know your mental history, and I love you, so I am now making a list of things that will make you happy.  Right now I have been doing all these things and have been feeling awesome, so I hope they help you if you need help wherever you're at right now.

1)  Stop napping.  For anyone else, naps might be fine or even good.  However, you enjoy them way too much and use them as a way to escape from the world.  You cannot escape.  Stay here.  BE here.  Don't let drowsiness or any other temptation take you away from where you really are.

2)  Do homework when there is still daylight outside.  You are naturally most idle when the sun is up, so this is the best time for you to affirm life and go against the sloth within you and do actual work.  Plus, once you've gotten all your work out of the way, you'll have a free night to do whatever, including think.  You always do your best thinking on a stress-free night, and often have valuable existentially-enriching moments when relaxing at the end of a day.

3)  Switch up the music you listen to.  Listen to whatever you want during the day.  You seem to enjoy more upbeat/hardcore music when the sun is up.  This is good.  Allow the energy in that music to flow through your body and use it to motivate positive and productive action.  When the sun is down, however, tone it down a bit.  Listen to bands like Sigur Ros.  Focus on relaxing before you go to bed.

4)  Eat regular meals.  Eat at least two meals a day, on a schedule.  Ramen doesn't count.  If necessary, force yourself to go out to get food.  Do not eat late at night.  Allow a lengthy digestive period to take place before going to bed.  Try to eat healthy, well-rounded meals.  Chicken is ok.  Eat salad and other veggies.  Cut down on fried potatoes.  Make sure your plate is colorful before you sit down to eat.

5)  Keep substances out of your life.  Affirm life by controlling it.  Those happy feelings you get from the bottle are meaningless.  It's just another cop out.  It's just another type of nap, except physically poisonous.  Remember what you are doing before you take a drink.  Control your body.

6)  Don't freak out.  If you find yourself having any kind of anxiety attack, don't go crazy.  Step back, mentally, and wait it out.  It is a physiological phenomena, and you can still retain a calm mind if you don't let it affect your brain.  Remember that you are more than your body.  You are also a mind.  Identify with your mind if your body is behaving badly, it will stop soon enough.

7)  Be social.  If you are alone on the weekend, go out of your comfort zone to find people to hang out with.  Never spend a whole weekend trapped in your room.  Even if it is just a simple trip to the bookstore, get out.  You are a social animal, Timothy, no matter how much you think you aren't.  You need to see people in order to be happy.  So do it.

8)  Remain active.  Do your homework proactively.  Go to all your classes, always.  Fight the urge to nap.  Read a book.  Do anything except browse Facebook.

9)  Be responsible.  If you need help on something, get it.  If you want something, make sure you do everything necessary to get it.  Don't just give up.  Don't resort to napping.  Affirm life, goshdammit.  You have so much potential, so much to share, so much to experience.  Don't let your own tendency for inaction ruin that all.

10)  Get ready for bed.  Shower, brush your teeth, perhaps do a short workout.  Make sure that you have a distinct separation between before bed time and after bed time.  You don't have to go to bed directly after getting ready, but be sure not to start any really important thing, such as homework, after you've put your pj's on.

11)  Read every day.  If nothing else, read before you go to sleep.  In fact, always read before you go to sleep.  It will leave you will a nice, productive feeling and calm your mind.  Keep up with your determination to be continuously studying.  It doesn't matter if it's literature, philosophy, or economics.  READ.

12)  Have a place for yourself.  This is both physical and mental.  Ideally, try to have your own room.  You are happiest when you have a room to return to in which you know you will not be disturbed.  Keep active and social during the day, but return to your Fortress of Solitude in the evening and retire in peace.  If you are sharing a room, this is difficult, but you can at least create a mental niche for yourself.  Just tell whoever you live with that, before bed, you'd like to be left alone and have little to no conversation.  Pop in your headphones, turn on some Sigur Ros, and you'll be good.

13)  Keep your room clean.  You may not think this is important, but I'm telling ya, it is.  Look around you right now, and if you think any part of it looks like a "mess," fix it.  You will feel so much better and more clear minded.  Trust me on this.

14)  Lastly, and most importantly, be IN CONTROL.  Don't allow yourself to be swallowed up in the current of life.  Don't give up.  Go with the flow, but make sure you are above it all, and that you are in no danger of sinking.  Everything I've mentioned up to this point is derived from this one principle.  Please, be awesome.

There you have it.  It's as comprehensive a list as I can think of right now.  Remember Future Tim, I love you, and I want the best for you.  I want you to be successful.  I want you to be the best person you can.  Most importantly, I want you to be happy.  I want you to be able to notice the sunshine coming in from your bedroom window, and I want you to realize that that light is a manifestation of God's love itself.  That everything around you is beautiful.  That you yourself are beautiful.  You may think your mind is screwed up, but remember how at peace you felt while writing this letter.  Remember the tears that welled up in your eyes as you typed, and the love you felt for yourself at that very moment in time.  Life is good.  You are good.  Don't give up.  I believe in you.

Love,
Me