I’ve got to tell you this: when it comes to mood swings and looking for a mood changer, there are many (healthy) things you can try to turn things for the better, but there is one of them which – if applied right – will make all the difference.
Free and without prescription: a natural mood changer you might be underestimating
Happiness is all that we really crave. Everything else boils down to it. Want a better job? Want more money? Think that if you loose 10 pounds, you’ll finally feel better with yourself? All that those things have in common is that they are different forms of happiness cravings. And there is nothing like a bad mood to kill any happiness that you might be experiencing now, pre- ‘all the things that simply must guarantee happiness’ (And I hope you do get my sarcasm here.)
But here’s the trick to turning things around and not letting a bad day get in the way of your happiness craving: a strong gratitude practice.
You’ve probably heard of gratitude before – and you don’t have to be religious to practice it.
But the thing you might not be getting about gratitude (if you don’t have a strong gratitude practice yet) is just how powerful it is for your mood and overall outlook on life.
Start today – reap the benefits for the rest of your days
Gratitude. By that I mean consciously looking for and naming all the things that bring you joy in your life. Or even challenges, for that matter! (We learn from those, so they ultimately shape who we become – being grateful for those can teach you a whole lot of new things about yourself.)
Spend a few minutes focusing on what you’re grateful for. Either list it in your mind, or better yet: write it down. Focus on what you’re grateful for and WHY. The why is important, because it gives it a better meaning in relation to your life right now.
That practice won’t take you longer than 5 minutes a day. 5 minutes that will start building new neuropaths in your brain – literally transforming the way you think from now on. Noticing the positive.
Which is why you need to start today and you’ll reap the benefits for the rest of your life. Turn this into a regular practice, a routine, and your brain and the way you think will change – giving you the benefits of positive outlook on life forever.
How to use gratitude as a mood changer
Imagine that something happened that pissed you off. And now you’re angry. Or sad. Or disappointed.
Unless you break the spiral of thoughts along the lines of “I can’t believe xyz just happened.” “This is unbelievable.” etc., then all you’re doing is staying in the mud.
If you were walking on a path in a beautiful forest and tripped and fell into a muddy puddle, would you stay in that puddle for hours, thinking “I can’t believe it” and basically sitting there, rubbing the mud on yourself?
No?
You’d probably get up, try to brush off the mud as well as you could and keep going. The beautiful forest is still there. And if you’re lucky, you might just see a deer.
But instead, many times we might be finding ourselves staying in that sticky situation, reliving our anger and constantly thinking about it, instead of getting up and walking away.
Which is where gratitude comes as a pattern interruptor and a great mood changer.
In a situation when you’re feeling down, go out for a walk, or go to a local coffee shop with a notebook, and for a few minutes just forget about all that anger, sadness and disappointment, and instead focus on all the good things that are around you.
If you apply those two steps:
1. go out, or change the environment for a moment and then
2. focus on feeling grateful, really FEEL it in your body,
your anger will diminish, your mood will raise, and you’ll be able to get up and walk again.
Your time is your most precious asset. You cannot get it back. Once you spend it a certain way, it’s gone. Make sure you don’t spend your time reliving bad moments.
Instead, spend that time strengthening your connection with everything that is good in your life. I can promise you, if you do this, and do this regularly (not just when you’re pissed off or sad), your outlook on life will change.
And with that, you’ll find yourself surrounded with new opportunities that you didn’t see before.
The deer is in that beautiful forest. You just need to get up and look.
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What do you do when you have a bad day? Do you use gratitude? Do you have any other pattern interruptors or mood changers that you’d recommend? What does it take to actually DO the thing you’re putting off? Leave a comment below.
And if you enjoyed this article, make sure you share it on your favourite social media platform. Thank you so much for reading and I’ll ‘see you’ next time.
With gratitude for you, my reader,
