Any of my former students can tell you that whenever we were having a bad day, Miss Weight would turn on the big screen and youtube puppy videos, pass out lollipops, and force the children to tell her jokes until she felt better. Then she would demand hugs and high-fives on the way out of her classroom.

And perhaps you, too, have a bad day from time to time. Where do you go to feel better? What are your tricks for feeling happy when you’re in a funk or a bad mood?

Here are some things I like to do.

  • watch out for photo bombing dinos.
    watch out for photo bombing dinos.

    Go outside. I find a brisk walk always helps me. At some point, you will usually run into a dog, which is always great. The other day I saw the neighbor kid in a Darth Vader helmet run into the mailbox at fullspeed. It was AWESOME.

  • pup3Speaking of dogs, googling puppies is always great. Kitties work, too. Here are some of my favs.
  • Clean. This always helps. Vacuum, make bed, put all things in their place. Declutter your space to declutter your mind.
  • Take a shower. A bubble bath, if you can. Sometimes I like to wallow in my misery and body odor. It becomes a weird badge of awful. “Oh! You could fry an egg in my hair and I stink. I’m so depressed and hilarious.” But then I get in the shower, shave my legs, and comb my hair and it’s a real big deal.
  • Wear comfy slippers. Warm feet are happy feet.
  • Watch funny Youtubes. Here are some of my faves. Send me more if you have any!!!
  • Paint your nails. Dye your hair. DO NOT CUT BANGS. If you feel the need to cut bangs under the influence of feelings, please contact me so I can send you pictures of what my forehead looks like when I do that. I will stage the quickest intervention you’ve ever seen.

  • yup.
    yup.
  • Wear something that makes you smile. For me it’s my penguin onesie, or my tank that says “Ride it like you stole it” with a bike on it.
  • Light candles. Make sure things smell good. Feng shui, etc. etc.
  • Bake things.
  • Write a letter to a friend. Not only will you feel better, but imagine how excited your friend will be to get mail!
  • ry textSometimes I really don’t like to talk to anyone about how I’m feeling. But texting makes that easier. I like to text a friend who I know will pump me up. Make sure you have a few of those; you need friends who know when you want to talk and when you don’t, and will just wait in your corner until you’re ready, saying the right things and offering wine.
  • Buy yourself flowers.
  • Do good things for other people. The trick to almost anything is to be as selfless as possible.
  • Read your favorite book again. I have a couple warm fuzzy books that I can skip right to the best chapters to set my world right again.
  • Spend some time with your Bible, my Jesus people. I’ve yet to be in a mood that I couldn’t find a Psalm to identify with. When in doubt, or just starting, Psalm 91, Psalm 27 and Psalm 141 work for me.
  • Plan a vacation, a trip, an adventure! It doesn’t have to be extravagant or long, just searching online for a new place to hike or the best frozen yogurt the next town over can do the trick.
  • Always own the movies you know will make you feel good. There is no price on your happiness. And different kinds of sad require different kinds of cinema. Some that work for me are “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” the Star Wars, LOTR, Indiana Jones trilogies, “Tangled,” “Sound of Music,” “Drop Dead Gorgeous,” and “Galaxy Quest,” one of the most underrated and underappreciated awesome films of our time. 

Sometimes your unhappiness is deep and complicated. Sometimes I know I need to be an adult and deal with the confrontations, the feelings, the stark realizations I would rather ignore. But most of the time, these things work for me. What am I missing? What’s another great pick-me-up? Let me know.

Until then, I’m wine-ing, brownie-ing, and Netflixing my way into a better state of mind.

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