Knowledge is power. Knowledge is fun, and it can help eliminate your sadness.

“The best thing for being sad….is to learn something. This has nothing to do with academia and everything to do with the fact that mastering a technique, sharpening a skill, doing something you didn’t know how to do before, proves anything is possible. Here are 25 ways to brighten up your life:

1. Memorize one good joke.

2. Start a new hobby.

3. Teach yourself not to take the bait the next time a loved one starts pestering you.

4. Master Italian (or American Sign Language, German, Spanish, French)

5. Have a kid show you one fool-proof magic trick.

6. Perfect your margarita-making technique.

7. Enroll in a cooking course.

8. Read everything by a single author whom you’ve been meaning to get to for years.

9. Knit yourself or someone you love a sweater – or perhaps just a scarf.

10. Start writing a short story.

11. Sign up for piano lessons.

12. Find a kind of meditation (prayer, relaxation technique) that feels right.

13. Join a class you’ve always been interested in attending.

14. Learn how to make your grandmother’s pie crust.

15. Figure out how to operate at least one new feature of your cell phone, Tivo or iPad.

16. Create your own blog.

17. Come up with one “can’t miss” meal and serve it to six friends.

18. Try a new kind of exercise class.

19. Conquer your revulsion at putting the worm on the hook.

20.  Learn the technique of a famous artist or photographer.

21. Learn to be alone (turn off your TV and your phone, shut down your computer, and enjoy a little solitude).

22. Tango…..it only takes one person to practice.

23. Buy an atlas; spend some time with it.

24. Pick up the guitar you put down in tenth grade.

25. Learn to juggle.. oranges, not responsibilities.