Often when the whirlwinds of Earth hit me in the face, I get a feeling of being lost. The depression hits and I honestly freeze and don’t know what to do to help myself. Though this has happened many times and will continue to, I believe that it happens to everyone. Through my experiences, here are five things that I do to help myself get out of the funk and lighten my mood.
1. Get out.
Do it, just get out. I hide and try to stay away from the world partially because I just don’t want to face whatever I am feeling and whatever is bringing me down. Forcing myself to get out and go do something, even if it is just by myself, allows me to refocus and think in a new environment.
2. Do what makes you happy!
If eating a piece of pizza makes you happy, order a pizza! If cuddling in 5 million blankets in sweats while watching your favorite movie makes you happy, then do it! If making a goofy video with your best friend makes you happy, then go get a silly outfit on and make a goofy video. If singing your favorite song at the top of your lungs makes you happy, then go SCREAM THAT SONG (mine is Mr. Brightside by The Killers). We all have our special activities that somehow brighten up our mood. It is so important to recognize those and take advantage of them. It is important to find a healthy balance between our guilty pleasures and doing things that will help us improve our situation. Sitting in bed, sadly, won’t improve our situation but it could give us the time we need to recoup and prepare to go out and conquer whatever is holding us back.
3. Plan an adventure.
It is a proven fact that it is important for your happiness to plan an acitivity (whether a trip to the store or out of the country) that gives you something to look forward to. It can be within the same day or months out, but planning an adventure creates anticipation which triggers chemicals in our brains that will create excitement, which is a happy feeling.
4. Reach out in service.
Everyone around us is struggling with something. It can be a loss of someone they love, trouble finding a job, or even the lack of friendship. We all unknowingly have trials we are overcoming in any given moment. As we allow ourselves to put ourselves in the service of others, we are being selfless and distracting ourselves from our own problems in order to help another. I feel truly happy when I let go of my own worries for just an instant to help serve someone in need of my love. These people we serve, we don’t have to know personally or the problems we are going through. Just do it!
5. Be grateful.
We often find ourselves focusing on the negative which over powers our focus on the positive. This can ruin us. As we focus on the things that are negatively impacting our lives, we loose sight of what is actually going right in our lives. The positives are what bring us happiness and how are we supposed to feel that happiness if we are too busy focusing on the things that are bringing us down? Write a few things down everyday in a journal, text a friend why you are grateful for them, or set a reminder on your phone for a certain time just to think about the good things that are happening.
Be patient and loving to yourself. Nobody is perfect. If the world were to realize that everyone is struggling and we need each other, it would be a much happier place overall. Try to do that. Set goals on how to help yourself because how are we supposed to be a bright influence if we don’t have the confidence and love within yourself? Do what makes you happy.