Sometimes life sucks. It’s just one of those inconvenient truths that we have to accept and move past in order to retain any amount of sanity. It can be an hour of your day that kinda stinks or a whole week of hurricanes causing you to lose your mind, but the main point is everyone experiences both and everyone has to find a way to cope with the “Mean Reds” (Please get the reference).
In certain circumstances, it’s impossible to cheer yourself up (i.e. clinical depression). In others, though, there are a few tricks everyone can use to brighten her spirits when life is the pits (or the mods after a rainstorm when everything is muddy and then a sudden Boston cold front hits and the rain turns to ice and then you eat it walking to class, but I digress).
A quick Google search of “How To Be Happy”, after which I immediately deleted my search history, led me to kind of mushy, half-helpful sites that were a little condescending (example solutions included “Be optimistic”-no duh, and “Make enough money to meet basic needs”- gee thanks). The moral of the story here, I guess, is that sometimes you really need to tailor your Google searches to more specific needs. Instead, I realized, being happy when skies are gray takes a little more creativity than sitting in front of my computer sulking.
Here’s what actually helps:
1. Buy a bouquet of flowers for your room/apartment/whatever. Fresh cut floral arrangements have incredible healing powers. Place them in a vase and change the water every once and a while…unless you’re allergic, then just proceed to number two.
2. Work out. You’ll feel better about yourself and you’ll look better, too.
3. Have a girls’ night. Camaraderie is underrated around here. I live with eight people but hardly ever see any of them. Whenever we take the time out of our many busy schedules to hang out with one another, we all end up feeling warm and fuzzy inside. This may just be the wine we drink ensemble, but I’d like to think it’s our friendship that makes me feel so good inside. In my 8-man, we like to watch The Parent Trap and paint our nails when we feel down. Feel free to steal our ritual if you want.
4. Take some time for yourself. Yes this may seem contradictory to what I just said about hanging out with friends, but everyone functions differently and sometimes I feel better when I just hang out with myself for a while. Ideas: go chill for a while at Starbucks, go shopping downtown or in Newton Centre, get your brows waxed, journal, do an art project, or clean your bathroom (some people find this therapeutic. I dunno).
5. Be honest with yourself about why you’re feeling crappy. If it’s the result of a bad grade, go talk to your professor about it. If you were looked over for a job or internship, put your heart and soul into figuring out other options. If you’re bummed about a boy, take a hot shower (DO NOT TAKE A BATH IN A DORM BATHROOM), shave your legs, and refer to number two. Anyone who is willing to give you up is not worth your time. He’ll probably bald prematurely anyway.
6. If all else fails, watch this video. Actually watch it anyway, you’ll feel better instantly.
Photo Sources:
http://25.media.tumblr.com/9c53f53cded7f5c4ef25872dd361e329/tumblr_mhu7i2fMgo1ru1s2go1_500.png
http://designbotanica.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-10-07T21%3A09%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=25