Okay, so I may not follow some of these mandates myself, but this is really more of a do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do sort of situation. Happiness does not just come to people and stay there. To be happy, you have to work at both finding and keeping it. So get out of bed or that all-to-comfy chair and go do something. You’re not going to make anybody happy, especially not yourself, by moping around.

If you are constantly hanging out with pessimistic people, it will inevitably rub off on you. I'm not saying that you shouldn't spend time with these friends, because they need to be around people. Just make certain that you also have people in your life who are optimists. Some of their positive attitude will rub off on you and hopefully you'll be able to transfer a bit of it to those perpetually blue friends of yours.

It’s not just for 5-year-old girls. Who doesn’t feel better when they’re wearing a great outfit, impeccable makeup and sparkling jewelry? You can go to a local beauty academy and have your hair, makeup, and nails done for a fraction of the cost at a salon, and you'll be helping the students who'll be working with you. To all you guys out there, feel free to join in if that’s what floats your boat. ;)

Do something nice for someone else. It is an instant mood-lifter, and this way you won't be the only one benefiting. If you see someone begging, give them a gift card. If you see someone struggling with their shopping bags, offer to help. If you don't see any opportunities, create one. Go find some volunteer work to do or a cause to support and then go out and do it. You can find great causes at the Hugs Heal Myspace or find the right volunteer work for you at VolunteerMatch.

Again, do as I say; not as I do. A cluttered space means a cluttered mind. Cleaning and organizing can be a pain while you're doing it, but you'll certainly feel better afterward.

If you have a gorgeous garden just outside your door, go outside and enjoy it. If not, head to a park, lake, or beach and relax. Oh, and make sure you bring a good book with you. No horror or angst, ok? That really would defeat the purpose.

Call someone you haven’t talked to in a long time. Whether it’s an old classmate, a distant cousin, or your mom, it’s a great feeling to get back in touch with someone you’ve been missing. Once you've gotten in touch with them, set up a time to meet. Whatever you do don't say the words "We should have lunch sometime". All that will lead to is a phone call a year later, at which time you'll wind up saying the same thing and starting vicious "Sometime" cycle again. Say something more along the lines of "Are you free for lunch on Friday?" That way you have a set day to meet and you can make sure that it will actually happen.

There have been tons of studies showing that when exercising, the human body produces chemicals that have a dramatically positive mood-altering effect. So get off your butt and onto a treadmill. If you decide to go outside for exercise, make sure you make eye contact with the people you pass by and give them a smile. If you're feeling particularly daring, you could even throw in a peppy little "hello" or "beautiful day". Odds are, they'll smile back and wish you the same.

You're already on your computer reading this, so you're halfway there. Now, instead of instinctively typing "Google" into your browser, go to Givoogle. It is the same search engine as Google, but every thousand ad impressions earns money that goes to the American Cancer Society. Go to the Image Search and type in "puppies". Or kittens. Or baby harp seals. If you feel like you're in more of a video mood and you want to see something cute and fluffy moving around, go to YouTube and do a search. I highly recommend visiting The Cutest Little Guy on Youtube. Then just let the oohs and awwws fall where they may.

Call up your best friends and go out for a night (or day) on the town. See a movie, go to a street faire, go bowling, ice skating, clubbing; anything you would enjoy doing together. Better yet, find a great cause and do some volunteer work together. For more information on volunteer work, please see point #4.

While you’re out with your friends, bring a camera and take some of the most ridiculous photos you can come up with. Make sure you get someone else to take some pictures with all of you in them. This has the added bonus of some stranger being able to go home and tell his wife all about the crazy girls he’d met who had him take photos of them dancing in a conga line while trying to balance pineapples on their heads.

Do “that thing” you’ve been meaning to do. You keep on saying that next weekend you’ll put those photos from the vacation in Catalina into a cute little scrapbook. Well guess what? You’ve been saying that for the past three years. Do it, already!

Most people get embarrassed when other people look at pictures of them when they were cute little cubby-wubbies, but that shouldn’t stop you from looking at your own. Awwwwww, look how squishy you were!

Realize that what ever is making you feel depressed probably isn't worth the effort it's taking for you to feel this way. Once you've accepted that, you can let go and get happy. Check out Richard Carlson's book Don't Sweat the Small Stuff... and It's All Small Stuff.

I also recommend reading Power of Less, The: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential...in Business and in Life for those of us who need to learn how to do less while getting more done.

Remember that time when your sister borrowed your favorite sweater without permission and spilt coffee all over it? And then ripped it trying to get the coffee out of it? And then didn't tell you about it for a month, making you think feel absolutely furious with yourself because you thought you'd lost it? Remember how you reacted when you found out? It's time to let it go. Once you do, you'll feel better, she'll feel better, and you'll feel closer to each other than you have in a long time.

There are far more ways to be a happier person than I could possibly list here. The key is figuring out what works for you and committing to actually doing it. No more feeling sorry for yourself. Become a happier person and stay that way.