We all have those days, where we are feeling down in the dumps and every little thing, good or bad, just seems to grate on our last nerve. While it might feel like the only way to get over these mood slumps is to lock yourself in the bedroom for a day and hide in the dark, sometimes it’s not possible or even practical to simply take a day to yourself.
Luckily, we aren’t doomed to a bad day if our mood is on the low end of the happiness spectrum but instead, we just need a ‘soft reset’ to realign our mood into the positive and feel better for the day ahead. To help you raise out of a blue moment, we’ve put together some inspirational small gestures that can help turn your mood around in a snap and empower you to find joy in your today.
Shout, Sing and Dance
When you are feeling irritable or low, how do you react? Are you someone who wears their heart on their sleeve and can be read like an open book or someone that tends to bottle things up? We are allowed to feel emotions, whether high, low or in between, that is our right it’s how we act on these emotions that receives judgement. Rather than snap at a colleague for an accidental mistake or lean on your horn when stuck in traffic, take a moment to decompress in private. Shout into a pillow, sing your heart out to your favourite sad song or simply turn the music up and dance until your legs ache.
Give to Those Less Fortunate
As cliché as it sounds, there’s always someone worse off than you. If you woke up in a comfortable bed today, consider the refugees that awoke in a tent, far away from their hometown through no choice of their own. As your bread browns in the toaster, consider those that will be going without a meal today. But don’t stop there act on these thoughts. Reach out to a local cause and offer support either through volunteering your time or funds, make a charity donation to a good cause further afield. Whatever you choose, YOU can make a difference today. Click here to learn about Zakat, the obligatory charity donation that helps people feel like they are making difference while supplying necessary food, warmth and shelter to those less fortunate.
Write it Down
Writing down your feelings can provide cathartic relief, just to get how you feel off your chest and ensuring you aren’t holding onto potentially harmful pent-up emotion. When we carry our burdens around with us, they weigh us down, make it feel hard to pick ourselves up from the ground and cause us to withdraw from those we care about. While it may not be easy to express yourself in words, either to a trusted individual or a professional, writing things down gives you a platform to vent freely, in any way you want to. Once you’ve written down, you can keep it to refer to later as a method of helping you get out of a similar mood in the future or (safely) destroy it whatever makes you feel better!
Pet a Dog
Whether you have a pet, have a close friend or family member with a pet or have a nearby rehoming centre you can visit. Spending time with a pet such as a dog or cat can do wonders for your mood. Our pets can help us get out of bed and face the day when we want to hide away, they soothe our feelings of stress and provide unconditional love when life seems at its hardest. There have been many studies on the benefits of owning a pet all of which point to the fact that being a pet owner is a truly rewarding experience and great for our emotional wellbeing.
Don’t let waking up on the wrong side of the bed ruin your whole day, perform one of these little pick-me-ups and find the strength to turn your day from blue to new. Life is too short for irrational bad moods so before you do anything else, take a step towards the mirror, smile warmly and remind yourself just how awesome you are!