1. Clean your space.
I know, chores. You feel like your life is in the gutter and now you are being expected to muster up the energy to do housework? Well, yes. You can't find anything when you need it, you've been eating out of pots since you have no more clean dishes left, and what the hell is that smell? All of this adds unnecessary stress into your life. Your external surroundings are a direct reflection of your internal world. Cleaning is a productive way to begin to get your mind off your problems, and the result is an organized, easy to navigate space that is both welcoming and comforting. A clean house has a calming effect that you could definitely use if you are in a funk.
2. Take care of yourself.
Have you noticed how when peoples life gets out of balance, their personal hygiene and eating habits are always the first to go? Cook yourself a big, healthy meal. Take a long hot bath or shower. Wash your hair, shave, use a face mask, put some multi colored bath bomb in your tub and soak the stress away. How you treat yourself is a direct reflection of how you let others treat you. Taking care of yourself well is also a reminder that you are worth so much more than you may be admitting to yourself on a regular basis. This sort of self-assurance is necessary when letting go of life's woes.
3. Take a break.
You need to dedicate time to doing nothing. It doesn't have to be all meditation and Namastè, either. You can literally sit on your couch and do nothing at all for 10 minutes a day. No phone calls, no television, no company, nothing. Life is always bombarding us with constant distractions and endless to do lists. So it's important to balance that out with periods of absolute relaxation, even if they are in short bursts.
4. Practice gratitude.
This can happen while you are taking a break or not. It's a matter of shifting your mindset. What is going good in your life? What is exceptional? What is simply happening exactly as it should? Train your mind to look at things differently as they are happening. Life is full of surprises, so count your blessings and make a list of the beautiful things in your life. I'm sure there is at least one. It could even be "I woke up this morning and I'm happy to be alive."
5. Exercise.
Let the adrenaline and the endorphins make you feel like you are on top of the world. Your body and your mind will benefit.
6. Find a new hobby or something you enjoy.
Sometimes you just gotta switch things up. Find something fun in your area to do where you can meet new people. Meetup.com is a good place to find a lot of fun, free (or very cheap) social activities. Trying new things can open your world up more than you might realize.
7. Create a short term goals list.
Short term goals turn into long term success. Always remember this. It takes your mind off of your problems and puts your focus onto moving forward. I like to plan month by month. I only plan to complete what I know I can complete in 4 weeks. Next month, I'll have a whole new list of tasks to complete. Before you know it you are making constant progress. I find monthly better than daily or weekly because planning over the span of a few weeks at a time allows you to plan for some down time, leading me to my next point.
8. You NEED to PLAN fun time.
This is different than taking a break. You can do anything you want during this time, as long as you find it fun. During my downtime, I like to watch television. I actually grew up in a household where we didn't watch television so it's not something I've ever been used to doing. As a result, as a child, I had to come up with creative ways to keep myself busy, and as an adult this translated into always working on something, always being busy. Now, I allow myself up to 3 hours of television time a month. With each episode at approximately 30 mins, that's about 1-2 episodes of television a week. I am currently following Game of Thrones and watching a show called The Borgias. After a long day/week, it's nice to have a little treat to look forward too. I even have a TV buddy who I love watching GOT with.
9. Write a letter to yourself to pull out and read whenever you are feeling overwhelmed.
Make sure in that letter you tell yourself everything you would need to hear if you were reaching out to a close friend. For example, mine says "It's okay to cry. It's okay to need time to process your emotions. It's okay to set your pace and stick with it. You are a good person with a kind soul." Update this letter as much as you want. Include and remove things, just make it perfect for you.
10. Do something nice for someone other than yourself.
Go volunteer for a weekend at an animal shelter, help feed the homeless, take your dog to his/her favorite park and watch how excited they get. Other peoples happiness rubs off on you. When you are miserable, you attract misery. You have to put forth positivity to attract it and this starts by doing what you can to make interactions as positive as possible. Both positivity and negativity are contagious. Choose.
Always remember, you are the earthly embodiment of strength, love, and joy.
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