One of our favorite picture books starts out, "It was a gray day for the green queen." At our house, that line has become our code to signal when we're feeling a bit down. Having the blues is much different from being depressed; I've had significant experience with both, so trust me.
Your gray day might be caused by actual weather (though I love rainy days, personally), or perhaps you're a bit hormonal, or you're worried about your teenager or your cat or the crummy rejection letter you just got. Whatever the cause, here are ten easy steps I take to turn things around.
1) Pray. Express gratitude for at least twenty things you normally take for granted. Ask for strength and joy and forgiveness, as needed. Commit to being your best self.
2) Read something uplifting. It could be scripture; it could be a poem. It could be a chapter from Anne of Green Gables or The Princess Bride or Traveling Mercies or The War of Art.
3) Cook something that fills the house with delicious fragrance: cinnamon rolls or cranberry chutney or bread or chicken soup.
4) Put on fabulous music: The Beatles or Ella Fitzgerald or Great Big Sea or The Magic Flute or Grieg's Piano Concerto. You know--something that makes you smile/play air guitar/sing/dance/conduct the orchestra.
5) Take a shower with yummy-smelling bath products. Sing while you're in there. Banish your inner critic.
6) Get dressed up--not in your eveningwear, but get out of those sloppy sweats/yoga pants. Ladies, put on a little makeup and some nice jewelry; do your hair.
7) Write a note to someone expressing appreciation for how s/he enhances your life. It could be a quick, three-line email, or it could be a handwritten note slipped under a pillow or put in the post.
8) Eat some of that delicious thing you made in Step 3, then package up some to give to a neighbor and go drop it off.
9) Clean up your surroundings. Use my Chapter/Chore method, and feel free to add the third "CH" to the rotation: Chocolate.
10) Go for a walk. Twenty minutes in the fresh air does wonders for my mood every time.
There! Don't you feel better?