No matter how you put yourself out there, be it in a relationship, by crushing on people, or just as a friend, sometimes you’re going to have bad days.
Bad days when you’re heartbroken. Bad days when you’re depressed. When you’re feeling worthless and unmotivated. Days you’re just not even close to being at your best.
It happens to everyone. Some more than others, some days more intensely than others. But there are always things you can do to make it through.
Here are four of them…
1. Get Out
If you’ve been down for a couple of days because of a breakup or failed attempt at turning a crush into a real relationship, don’t pass up opportunities to go out with your friends. Even if you don’t feel like it. Especially if you don’t feel like it. Wallowing for a bit is natural and okay… but then you need to get a quick change of scenery and be around people who give a damn about you.
2. Review Past Successes
It’s really easy when you’re feeling down and out to dwell on all the bad stuff that’s gone on before. It reinforces that dark cloud it seems you should be under. There’s not much that’s more counter-productive than doing that. Instead, make it a point to go back and look at the things that have gone right in the past. No, it’s not always easy, but it can really take the edge off and get you out of your slump a little more quickly.
3. Indulge in Guilty Pleasures
Do you have a soft spot for
musicals that you don’t often tell people about? Maybe old school 8-bit console video games? Trashy Spanish soap operas on Univision? Well, when you’re feeling down, take some time and dive into them for a little while. They’ll help take your mind off of the bad stuff going on and help you get back on a track similar to the one you were on before it all went bad.
4. Tell Your Story
Really. Talk to people about it. Friends. Strangers. Anyone who will listen. Blog about it. But tell it like a real story. Don’t whine about it, focus on facts and events. Sure, include how you feel, but think about how it would run in a book or movie script. Telling out stories help us put them in perspective. And, as an extra added bonus, you may inadvertently get that one piece of advice you need–from yourself. Also, you’ll be surprised at how sharing a little bit of your personal pain can end up helping someone worse off than you are.
One More Thing
If you find yourself down more often than not for any number of reasons, you may be suffering from real depression. If that’s the case, you really want to be sure you have a solid support system in place among your trusted friends and, if it’s really an ongoing problem, you will want to get yourself set up with a good therapist. I know a good bunch of people who wouldn’t be here right now if they hadn’t gotten the help they needed–in the form of good counseling and properly prescribed medication.
Everyone gets down sometimes… but everyone should also bounce back eventually. If you’re not bouncing back, there’s a deeper problem that needs to be dealt with that none of the “little tricks” will help with.
What do you do to chase away the blues?
