1. Start your day with your favorite beverage. If that beverage is alcoholic you may want to save that for later in the day but a good cup of coffee or tea made just the right way or gotten from your favorite coffee shop is a winner. My current favorite is a dirty chai which is chai tea with a shot or two of espresso. Yum.
2. Take a walk or run outside. Even if the weather is less than perfect (which is about 75% of the time where I currently live) there is something about getting out in the great outdoors that turns my sad into glad.
3. Have a good long cry and pity party. Then toss the kleenex in the trash, declare that it is a new moment in time and move on.
4. Call a trusted friend. Sometimes you just need to hear a friendly voice and reconnect with another human being who understands you.
5. Turn up the music LOUD. This never seems to lose its charm for me—it works, trust me. Even if it is a sad song with sad memories it will allow you to embrace the emotions of the day and move on.
6. Eat ice cream. No more explanation needed here.
7. Read a book. Start in on one that you have been meaning to read forever and just dig in.
8. Look for something that you lost or misplaced. This will definitely redirect your attention.
9. Clean something. Once again –redirected attention tends to make one feel better. The satisfaction of having something clean or cleaned out is a physical activity that actually shows tangible proof of change and effort when completed.
10. Do something nice for someone else. Focus outward instead of inward. Allowing time to wallow in your own funkiness for a bit is fine and understandable but for long lasting satisfaction and the chance to turn a cruddy day into something terrific there is nothing like doing something for someone else. It absolutely works.
Do you have any to add? Feel free to add them in the comments section and remember that all comments this month go towards Retrieving Freedom, Inc. .
