Everyone has good days, when everything comes together with the greatest of ease, and not-so-great days, when everything feels like an uphill battle from the moment you get out of bed in the morning to the time you get back in at night. Having a bad day or being in a bad mood is a normal part of life, and just because things aren’t going right, it doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with you. What matters is that you don’t let a bad mood turn into a bad day, a bad day to turn into a bad week, a bad week into a bad month, and so on.
Don't allow the way you feel about a task, situation or circumstance to define how you feel about yourself, or allow having a negative emotional experience to make you feel negatively about yourself. When you truly believe your best is good enough, you can accept that you're in a bad mood — or having a bad day, or feeling a bit ordinary — without this affecting your confidence and self-esteem.
The next time things are not going your way and you find yourself in a bad mood, follow these tips to turn your mood around in under a minute:
#1. Visualize your happy place. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and create a mental postcard of somewhere you always feel happy. Keep your eyes closed and keep taking deep breaths until you feel your bad mood subside and your emotional equilibrium return to normal.
#2. Be honest about how you're feeling. Everyone feels grumpy or out-of-sorts at some point. Instead of pretending everything is okay when it isn't, tell someone how you feel and ask them for a hug or pat on the back.
#3. Make an appointment to do something just for you. Book a massage, make a lunch date with a friend, or schedule a night at the movies. Knowing you have something to look forward to in the future will stop you from dwelling on how you're feeling right now.
#4. Go for a walk around the block. The combination of fresh air and a change of scene can have an amazing impact on your mood. Research shows that spending time outside can even have an effect on your emotional state, similar to that of a low-dose anti-depressant.
#5. Eat chocolate. While binge-style, comfort eating is always a bad idea, a piece or two of dark chocolate can stimulate the production of endorphins: the chemicals in the brain that bring on feelings of pleasure.
Believing that you deserve to live a happy and rewarding life doesn’t exclude you from life’s ups and downs. You’re still allowed to have a bad day or be in a bad mood. Just don't let it linger.
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