It doesn’t matter if you’re the wealthiest, prettiest, most successful person around. It doesn’t help if you have the biggest house, the fullest fridge or the most friends. Everyone has bad days, and sometimes even all those other nice things contribute to our sour mood.
Sometimes the more things you have add to our stresses. You always wanted that beautiful house, but now you have a larger mortgage and larger property to take care of. That new car you got was an enriching purchase, but now it’s devalued by over half when you want to sell it, and broken parts are costly to fix.
I recall a friend of mine making a harmless but critical post about his day on Facebook once. A few people reflected the notion in their responses, but another friend just said, “I’ve never seen you complain about anything before.” The original poster quickly deleted the post, since he could see how that attitude can be toxic and spread.
It’s surprising how little it takes to offset our mood. Sometimes just waking up from a bad dream is enough, and it feels like fixing our day would be irreparable. It’s not so hard though! Here’s a couple of things to take your mind off your sour state:
1. Go watch a movie
We always complain that we work too much, need more rest or need to take a vacation. In fact, we don’t have to go too far to elicit the same reaction in our brain that taking a vacation gives to us. Put in a DVD, watch a new trending series, get a Netflix account or even better, go to the cinema! For a few hours, movies take us away from our world and allow us to enter their world. We can forget about our script and enjoy someone else’s script, going to new worlds, seeing new people, and being mystified by the supernatural. So it doesn’t really cost thousands of dollars to take a vacation – just watch a movie and experience the feeling of the unknown for free (or much less)!
2. Go for a run/the gym
I know it seems like the hardest thing to do when you are in a funk. Even when I am in a bad mood it is hard to imagine using what energy I have to exercise. But getting a bit of sweat has consistently throughout history proven to put us in a better mood no matter what. You might have an awful workout or a short run but at least you tried. You will feel at least a bit better, and can use the rest of the day to recover further.
3. Retail therapy
Any excuse to go shopping is good enough for some! Hey, you’re in a bad mood and it doesn’t happen too often, so go buy that cool thing you’ve been looking at. Your dark thoughts will be glazed over by the interactions you had with salespeople and the experience of finally pulling the trigger and getting yourself something nice. A new emotion will occur – bravery! You could never buy that thing before but suddenly doing it now makes you feel a bit stronger. That’s what you need today!
4. Eat some junk food!
Hopefully you are usually conscious about your health and eat somewhat properly. Even if you don’t, there will always be some foods that you like to treat yourself too. Now’s your chance! Eat as much of it as you like. You will feel great that you offered to treat yourself and gave yourself the liberty to enjoy the food when you usually don’t let yourself. Today’s the day to say “who cares!” and do whatever you want.
5. Blast some music and clean your house
You know you have to clean your house, but when are you going to do it? If you’re in a bad mood, the best thing to do is take up that spring cleaning chore. Play your favourite music as loud as you want and tidy up those dark corners of your house and that yucky sink. You’ll have a good time, take your mind off your day and refocus your energy on something else, and at the end of it you’ll have a nice clean house! Great!
6. Play with some animals
Do you have a pet? Do you know someone who does? Spend some time with your dog or cat, or someone else’s. Maybe there’s a cool cat cafe you’ve always wanted to check out in your time. Pets love you unconditionally and want to give you hugs no matter what state you’re in.
7. Talk to an old friend
Talking to someone you haven’t spoken with in a while is a great way to bring you back down to earth. Ask what they’ve been up to all these months or years. It will remind you of good times and all the enjoyment you’ve had up until, unfortunately, today. You can both reminisce and you’ll feel rewarded by the interaction, and maybe make plans to meet up again some time!
8. Find a new recipe for dinner
If you’re having a bad day, counter it by spending your day reading about some exciting new flavours you’ve been wanting to try, occupy your day by going to the grocery and finding all those new ingredients, and treat yourself and/or your friends and family to a great (hopefully) new meal! It’s adventurous and anything to get your mind out of a rut is great (especially if you can eat it!)
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