Lifting your mood

Artist: Jewel Buhay
There are few people who are always happy and smiling. 

Most of us, from time to time, find life a little tough going, we hit a road block and we struggle to find joy. Our mood goes from sunshine to grey clouds and its colours everything we do and say. For some people it may not last very long, for others it can be much more of a struggle to get out of the ditch. 

This is when we start to snap at our love ones, struggle to do our work and just feel grumpy and sad. 

Instead of letting your mood pull you down, here are somethings you can do to help life you out of your misery and back into the sunshine.


1. Get outside — sunshine on your face, breathing resh air and hearing the birds sing really does make a differences. It can clear the head and remove you from the problem. Find a seat (or sit on the grass) and spend sometime alone and your head will feel so much better. It is harder to feel grumpy with the sunshine beaming down on you.

2. Hang out with a friend —friends can make you smile and laugh and these still remain the best medicine on a bad day. You can also talk through your day, because a trouble shared is also a great help.

3. Go for a walk — Fresh air to clear the mind and a good work out for the body.

4. Laugh — Laughter really is the best medicine and when one's mood is down laughing at something funny does make a difference. Find a friend to have a laugh with or pop over to YouTube and find some funny cats!! The experts say 20 minutes of laughter really can turn your mood around.

5. Rearrange your environment — I don't know about you, but doing a bit of a spring clean and rearranging things really does make me feel better. You can take this a bit further and paint the walls, find some new wall hangings and make a throw if you want!

6. Spoil yourself — Some women say that our only focus should be 100% on our families, but lets be honest, we all need to spoil our selves from time to time especially when you are feeling flat. Take a bubble bath, pop out for a cake and coffee, buy a new outfit!

7. Pay it forward — When you are feeling down, doing something for someone else can really life the spirits. Make your loved one breakfast in bed, send flowers to a friend, make a phone call to a friend as a surprise, bring your husband lunch at work.

8.  Go to the hairdressers or have a facial — I have to admit that having my hair done is wonderful, especially when the hairdresser massages my head after washing it. It is very relaxing and at times can almost send me to sleep!

9. Turn up the music — Music has a wonderful way of putting us in a different mindset - music can be inspiring, lift your spirits, make you want to dance, day-dream or just create a calm environment. Music really is a great medicine for the soul.

10. Ignite some flames — Sitting by a cozy fireplace or even lighting a scented candle can bring your mood to a much better place.

11. Dig into some cake — How many of us have reached for some yummy cake when feeling down, it isn't called comfort food for nothing! Eating a sweet meal with a best friend, your mum, husband will make it even more uplifting.

12. Hug someone — Giving a hug or receiving a hug can instantly rise to our mood and leaves us feeling loved and uplifted.

Whilst this one is last on my list, it really should be number ONE as it needs to be one of the first things we do when life gets us down — reach for our Bible. There are so many bible verses that will turn our emotional lows to highs — how about having some favourite uplifting bible verses in an easy to reach location — small cards, in a notebook, on the wall, inside your cupboard door in the kitchen  . . .  so you can reach them whenever you need.


God is our refuge and strength,
 a very present help in trouble.

Psalm 46:1




Comments

  1. This is all great advice, and it can help keep one from getting too far down. It is very difficult to bring oneself to do many of those things when in a deep slump. When life gets really tough, I always rely on the great outdoors. You're so right when you said it is difficult to feel miserable with the sun on your face. It helps bring me back to a center of gratitude, and then my entire outlook shifts.

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    1. I agree - I have family members who do suffer depression and it is much harder to lift one's mood when feeling really depressed - however a walk in the fresh air and some sunlight does help and walking with someone (doesn't matter if no one talks) is nice to.
      Have a wonderful day :)

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  2. Did you hear about the lady who kept going to the Dr. and he couldn't find anything wrong?
    Finally, after many visits, he told her to bake some cookies, every day and give them to a neighbors. He told her to then come back in two weeks for another check-up.
    She came back and told the Dr. she was healed!
    Moral of the story, get your mind off yourself and on others. It always is healing.

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    1. I have a wonderful book (quite old) called "The Amazing Quests of Mr Ernest Bliss" by E Phillips Oppenheim and it is about a very rich man who is very over weight. He doesn't feel at all well and the doctor doesn't appear to be able to give him a pill to fix the problem. Instead his doctor tells him to do some extraordinary. He is to leave his very comfortable home with only a few pounds in his pocket and go get a real job and live like others do (this is set during the early 1900s. The only time he can use his wealth is to help others and he must do it without their knowledge. For a year he struggles with the cold, with poor accomodation, horrible jobs - basically life is not easy. But during the journey he discovers how the poor live, what it is like to be in need and how helping others without their knowledge can bring amazing joy. It is a lovely book to read with a beautiful message. Whilst rich he thought he was happy, but he in fact found happiness with very little and in turn his health improved no-end :)

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  3. Great ideas Jo! Thanks for sharing them. Being in winter here in Missouri USA, the sky is grey here today. Fortunately we shared a simple meal with friends from church today. It was terrific and lifted my mood. Now I need to go finish the dishes!
    Blessings,
    Laura

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    1. It is surprising that simple things, even the things that might involve work can lift one's mood. I did some gardening yesterday and it was such a good feeling.

      have a wonderful day.

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  4. Getting outdoors & walking does wonder for one's soul. I've been making it a point to get out each day no matter if it's in the 20s, which it has been for the last 4 days. And I've been in a much better mood because of it. Now my kiddos, are joining in on the fun. Thanks for sharing this list of great ideas.
    Have a great rest of the day,
    Sarah-Ann
    @ Living Intentionally Simple

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    1. I always feel better when I have had some fresh air and sunshine, it really does lift the spirits and make you feel so much better. And walking on a cold day, even though bracing, it does feel good by the end.

      Have a wonderful week.

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  5. Reading the Scriptures is very important, but the Lord also gave us wonderful things and people in the world He made that can also help us... Going outside really helps me in the early mornings or evenings especially - love those times of day outdoors. Laughter is a great one - I love it when something is so funny it makes me cry!!! Rearranging things is another good one - and it does a lot to lift my spirits! Music - oh yes! I love music to help lift my spirits, too! And absolutely, yes, doing something for someone else is an excellent way to feel better about things.
    SO many good ideas here, Jo! I should write them out and put them in a handy place for when I need them most!

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    1. Going outside in the evening is lovely especially when all the birds are singing, perhaps not quite the same in winter!! There are many things we can do to lifts our mood, but I know not everyone can do it quite so easierly.

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