Need a cure for the doldrums?

Do you sometimes feel like this bison looks? I think we all do, and this past year, we may have felt like this more often than usual! I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but after 73 years of living and working on myself, I do have some suggestions for things that I know help me. Maybe you will get inspired to try some, or one, if you are feeling down. I know that just writing this will be a great pick-me-up for me!

1). Have a routine. Yes, dammit. Get up about the same time every day, get dressed and fix your hair and wear a little makeup, please! I promise, even though you may be thinking, “no way!” or “she’s nuts!’ you will feel better! Just do it. Yes, every day! My question is, why wouldn’t you? Don’t you want to feel better about yourself? Don’t you care what others may think of you? Don’t you want to be the best version of you that you can be? Yes, I know that some days are just crappy, but this one thing could be the small step that propels you forward. If you make it a habit, soon you will feel weird if you don’t do it!

2). Have some sort of plan for the day, even if your plan is not to have a plan. But also plan to be flexible. Many of my best days were totally not what I planned, but better! Keep yourself open to opportunities and ideas. One of my mantras for getting things done, and it does work for me, is “do whatever is bugging you the most first!” Just getting that one thing done can make you feel a lot better. Then reward yourself with something special that you love to do.

3). Take an interest in others and what’s going on around you! People are important, even for those of us who love our alone time! Don’t become a recluse, at least get out and make human contact once in awhile, or call someone, or write them a note, or check Facebook.

Enjoy nature-take a walk or go for a drive, or sit in your yard with coffee or a glass of wine, or a beer....have a pet-observe wildlife-listen to music-read a book or listen to an audio book-find a hobby and work on it enthusiastically to get to do it well-exercise (I don’t do this well at all unless it is work and I am accomplishing something, but some of you are good at it, and I know it helps you!)-clean out closets and drawers and get organized.

4). Plan something (and you also need to plan for when that plan doesn’t work, so that you aren’t depressed when that happens!). Don’t think that other people have caused your bad day. Only you are in charge of your crappy or good mood. Take back your control and power. Remember, other people are probably thinking about their own plans and problems, not you!