Howie Dorough had never been so humilated in his whole life. He'd begged the basketball coach at his high school to let him sing the national anthem before the team's big game, promising a performance that would make the coach proud. The future Backtreet Boys babe imagined himself putting on a perfect and totally inspiring performance. But things turned out a little, well, differently. "For some reason, I registered a wrong note in my head and sang a couple of notes lower than I normally do," the 25-year-old performer remembers. "I was totally out of my range." Picture poor Howie standing alone in the middle of the basketball court, singing the entire song painfully off-key as the crowd--fans, cheerleaders, coaches, players, everyone!--stares at him and you will probably start blushing yourself!

It's hard to keep a mortifying moment like this from dampening your spirits. Howie and his fellow Backstreet Boys--Nick Carter, Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean and Kevin Richardson--know that. They've all lived through their fair share of tough moments that they'd love to forget! But these happy honeys, who returned to the music scene last month with their awesome new CD, Millennium (the follow-up to their 1997 self-titled debut album), have figured out a few good ways to keep life from getting them down.

First of all, advises 27-year-old Kevin, "You just have to laugh it off." For instance, Howie's humilating singing could have easily left him feeling totally devastated. But instead, the good-natured guy decided to deal with his wince-worthy performance by finding the funny side of it. Howie had to admit that his excruciating rendition of the national anthem was the kind of too-bad-to-be-true experience that he'd always thought could only happen in movies. "It was just so bad that it was like a Naked Gun kind of experience," he chuckles now. When he looks back on it, he thinks it wasn't humiliating, it was hilarious.

His groupmates agree that laughter is a fab way to face tough or embarrassing times. "You have to enjoy life," counsels 18-year-old Nick. He believes that if you can't have a good ol' gigglefest about yourself once in a while, then you're taking life way too seriously. "Something's really wrong if you can't break down and laugh once in a while," he says. "We're always making fun of each other and just laughing."

But chuckling their way through life isn't the way these optimistic sweeties stay so cheery. They also know that it's totally natural to make mistakes once in a while. "No one's perfect," shrugs Kevin. "We're not perfect and we're not claiming to be. People makes mistakes." So if you accidentally spilled ketchup on the cutie you saw at the mall food court yesterday, don't waste your time agonizing about it. Simply resolve to be more careful when you're carrying condiments in the future and, offers Kevin, "Move on and don't let it bother you."

If that doesn't work, you can also try pumping up your optimistic side by working up a sweat. A.J. says that spending some time dribbling a basketball is the best way to keep him from feeling down. "It makes you feel good about yourself," the 21-year-old sweetie says.

But just how does a simple game of hoops bust your blues and boost your mood? "If you just keep youself active, then you won't have time to worry," explains Howie. Adds 24-year-old Brian, "You get out there and play for a while and you get your blood pumping and the next thing you know, you feel relieved." Who knew that a workout could work up happiness, too?

However, all the guys agree the best way for you to become a smiley sista is to focus on the positives in your life. Although it isn't always easy, try to look for that proverbial silver lining in the dark clouds instead of dwelling on the negatives. "Sometimes you try to cheer people up and it's like they don't look at the positive things in life," says Howie. "They look at the glass half-empty instead of half-full. [But] I take a positive view of everything."

That's what A.J. does when the crazy, frenzied pace of life on the road frazzles him. "There's so much work involved with the press and the photo shoots and the rehearsals and stuff," he groans. But the positive-minded sweetie also points out, "There's a lot of fun involved in it, too, with the fans and stuff. That's the thing--you have to keep it in perspective."

So if you ever find yourself singing off-key in front of a huge crowd of people, don't let this blushworthy experience crush your spirit. Keep being smiley by remembering that not even sensaysh singers like Howie can get it perfect every time. Then follow the Backstreet Boys lead and look on the bright side. The next time you sing "The Star-Spangled Banner," you'll know exactly what to do to make it better than before!