Last Sunday I shared with you some ideas on how to be happy, especially over the holidays. Today I want to suggest how you can make yourself miserable! Yes, miserable. Sometimes it helps to know what we shouldn’t do in order to know what we should do. Right?

In an article in our local paper — and I encourage you to read the entire article to get the details — Marilynn Preston tells us that the best way to make yourself perfectly miserable is to do the following:

~Ruminate. Worry as much as possible about everything in your life.

~Practice sustained boredom. Be convinced that life is a big drag and you deserve better — and then share your conviction with as many others as you can.

~Blame your parents. Your problems certainly can’t have anything to do with you, right?

~Don’t enjoy life’s pleasures. Who cares if there are a multitude of ways to enjoy yourself! None of them are good enough for you.

~Give yourself a negative identity. Be proud of being a victim.

~Whatever you do, do it only for personal gain. It’s all about you and no one else matters–you can use Ebeneezer Scrooge as your model.

The Grinch is the personification of someone who is determined to be as miserable as possible and to make others miserable as well. But remember that even the Grinch eventually became disgusted with his own miserable attitude and changed his ways for the better.

So the best way to defeat the Grinch within us and within those around us is to refuse to be miserable.

Have a Miserable Holiday. . . Or Not.

I think we all know the right choice.