We are always facing different situations in our daily lives. Sometimes it's the positive and it can make you smile, while other times we will be facing the negative and it will make you frown. If you are giving out more frown than smile in your everyday life, if you are facing more frustration than joy and you just cannot explain why, this article is written for you.

It's a list of techniques and ideas that you can use to brighten up your life, no matter if you are facing the gloomy situation or a stormy one.

Criticize yourself - It is good to criticize yourself once in awhile. Most people hate to be criticize, but if you can nurture the habit of self-awareness by criticizing yourself, you also will find that you are looking ways to improve yourself. Strive for improvement, that way, you allow yourself to make mistakes.

Smile - A single most important action you can immediately take the moment you wake up. Smile at yourself, smile at the first person you see everyday, smile at your colleagues. A simple sincere smile creates a sort of feeling in your body that triggers joy. You might have heard "A smile a day keeps the old man gloom away."

Give it your best - Regardless of what task you are undertaking; give it your best shot. One of the way which you can find joy in your work is by giving the best you have. You wont blame yourself or anyone else if you have given your best.

Loving others - One of the best way to stay positive is by loving others. Love is a very powerful emotion. Use it, control it and make it work for you. If you observe carefully, most positive people are loving people. Either they love their children, spouse or pets. On the contrast, negative people tend to be frustrated with everyone. Start to love first yourself, then others.

Develop Enthusiasm - Heard of this term? "No life"? It actually means no enthusiasm in anything you do. When you don't have enthusiasm, you will not have a positive mindset. Develop enthusiasm in everything you do. One of the easiest but not widely known way of developing enthusiasm is this, "Act enthusiastic." Yes, by pretending to be enthusiastic, you will start to have the feeling of enthusiasm.

Greetings - Like smiling, greeting is also one of the easiest way to stay positive. Put yourself in someone else shoes, if he greets you, will you be delighted? How about you greet others? A simple word "good morning" spoken 5 times will have significant impact throughout the day. Try it!

Gratitude - Count your blessing. Sometimes we may not know how much we have until we lose it. Don't take things for granted. Be glad with what you have. Also, be aware that there are thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people out there do not have what you possess. So instead of being negative in not able to attain certain things in life, Count your blessing, be positive.

Charitable act - Its true that one of the most satisfying feeling is doing something good to others with the knowledge that he can't repay you back. If you have a skill, teach the less fortunate. If you have a dollar or two, give it to the beggars. By doing that, you not only cultivate a positive attitude, you also cultivate gratitude.

Forgive others - The worse feeling is bearing grudges. Especially when you have the choice or opportunity to forgive. Like every other negative attitude, bearing grudges will not only damage your state of mind, in the long run, it will ruin your life. Before you learn how to love, you need to learn how to forgive.

Encouraging others - Ask yourself, would you look up to people who have the ability to encourage and motivate others? Be the person you look up to, and others will look up to you. In the process of encouraging others, you will find that you too are encouraged. Andrew Carnegie once said, "By enriching others, you enriched yourself". I believe its true in encouragements.

Lastly, read this list over again at least once a week and start practicing it till it becomes a habit. Do it for the next 6 months and watch a positive change in you. I love what Wayne Dyer said "When you change the way you see things, the things you see change".

Have a positive day ahead!