How to Cheer Yourself Up
Most days I’m a positive person because I know from experience things are never as bad as they seem. Even on those “nothing is going right” days I tend to think, “Okay, this too shall pass. Like a bad kidney stone, but it will pass.”
However, I’m only human so I have my days where it all just gets to me. The war in Ukraine. The after-effects of the global lockdown. Gas prices. Impending food shortages. Culture wars. That’s the external environment.
Then you add in the internal environment: my house is in complete disarray due to renovation work that is off schedule. Pressure from a heavy business travel week coming up. Lack of progress on things around the house over the Memorial Day weekend.
Le sigh. So many things hanging on us at once can really be distracting, disturbing, anger inciting, discouraging, and just plain deflating. It makes it hard to concentrate and that makes the pressure more intense because you can’t concentrate!
When things pile up and get to us, it can put the most capable and confident of us in a bad state of mind. Here are some things I did this week that helped shake me out of that bad mood and make me feel a bit more balanced:
After staring at things on my desk, not sure where to start, I picked something and did it. This action made me realize things aren’t as bad as they look, and I have more time than I thought to finish things and meet deadlines.
Thankfully I have clients and work that is interesting, but that means less time for gardening. Another thing weighing on my mind is weeding and trimming. I contacted a college student home for the summer who does yard work and he agreed to take the project. That was a relief as I know my garden beds will have attention. One less thing to worry about.
I bought myself something. Yes, that’s right – I use retail therapy from time to time to give myself something to look forward to besides deadlines and chores. For my upcoming business travel, I ordered a new briefcase that matches my luggage.
I revamped my workout routine as of June 1. Mixing it up is challenging and stops the boredom of exercise. I also love the renewed motivation I find.
Each Wednesday evening, there is an online networking Happy Hour for everyone in the nonprofit profession. I don’t usually make it but this week I made a point of it. I reconnected with friends and made a new connection.
In summary, if you want to cheer yourself up, do the following:
Take an action so you don’t feel helpless or overwhelmed.
Get outside help to relieve the pressure.
Treat yourself to something nice.
Make time for yourself.
Make time for your friends and colleagues.
These are easy things to do, and we know we can do them, but we all need to be reminded from time to time that we have options. Be kind to yourself and remember: we all have the power to curate our state of mind.
