debbie downer turnaround

This is probably going to come as a total shocker to you, but I’m not always a bubbly ray of sunshine in real life.

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It’s okay — pick those jaws up off the floor. Thankfully we have an internet relationship, so after this post you can pretend like you never knew this about me.

I’m a real person — something that we tend to forget when we read blogs sometimes (or at least I do). A real person who gets angry, frustrated, irritated, mad, sad, anxious. I forget a lot of times when I read others’ blogs that they only allow me to see what they want me to see, which more often times than not is just the happy go lucky situations. I love having my blog be a positive place that makes others laugh (is it working?) and shares great recipes (::crosses fingers::) along with being a creative outlet for myself.

But I have to be perfectly honest with you — I have been in a foul mood for the last twenty four hours. I’m not exactly sure what started it. All I know is the sun was shining and I was skipping with a crown of daisies, and the next minute, the clouds were (literally) raining on my parade and spitting on me. My moods and emotions are 100% affected by the weather, which is a real struggle in the wintertime and/or when it is gloomy outside.

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Yesterday I was tired — exhausted actually. I have felt overscheduled lately and just really needed a break. I’m sure I wasn’t much company to my mother yesterday afternoon when the first words out of my mouth to her was a complaint. This morning wasn’t much better — Charlie enjoys waking me up at 5:30 every weekend morning (he’s getting a spot in his crate tonight!) and the Husband’s alarm clock goes off shortly after that. After going to bed way past my bedtime last night, it was a recipe for disaster to have me up that early.

Do you want to know what I do when I’m tired? I pick fights. I get irritated and can’t stand others. In all seriousness, I’m like a toddler. You look at me the wrong way, and I’ll probably cry big ‘ole baby tears to get my way.

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Now, I’m not sharing this all with you so that you can stop reading my blog because you found out the truth about me. I’m sharing it because it’s what you do with those foul moods that really counts. Everyone has something that makes them feel better when a bad mood gets in the way. Nobody likes a Debbie Downer, which was exactly what I was being. Thankfully, I know how to turn my moods around. There are three things I like to do when I’m in a bad mood: run, clean, and shop.

When I set out on my 9 miler this morning, I really did not want to go. I wanted to curl up on my couch in my pajamas and fall back asleep to Boy Meets World reruns on ABC Family. But I didn’t — I laced up my shoes and headed out. While running, I find I do a lot of reflecting on my thoughts and actions. I asked myself why I was in such a bad mood. What was causing these feelings? I thought back on my week and realized I had slept at least an hour less each night than I am used to. My medication changed, so I’m sure my hormones are going crazy right now. The Husband has been working like a dog, and we hadn’t seen each other very much. And last but not least, my house was a pig sty and was driving me crazy. Thankfully, many of these things can be fixed. I got home from my run ready to tackle what could be changed.

Change what you can — Accept what you can’t. That’s supposed to be my motto, right?

When I got home, the first thing I did was start cleaning. The Husband always knows to watch out when I’m not a cleaning rampage. Not just because I’ll take a q-tip to his ears, but because it usually means I’m angry about something. I’m not just talking  your half-ass cleaning here folks. Drawers were organized, closets were cleaned, fridges were scrubbed down. This house could pass the white glove test if Danny Tanner walked in ready to inspect. I instantly felt better. There’s is nothing better than a clean house — especially a clean house when yours hasn’t been cleaned in weeks. Did I mention I’ve been really busy?

I also went out for some retail therapy — because let’s face it, there’s nothing better than that to turn your frown upside down. Even better than that is when you actually need something and you’re not just shopping to shop. Unfortunately for me, my hips, knees, and shins were killing me on my run. Thankfully, that meant I got to find the shoes that were made for my feet at the store: Asic’s GT-2150.

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By the end of the day, I felt a lot better. Yes, I’m still tired, but I did everything in my power to try to change my mood around instead of sulking and making everyone else around me miserable (which was really just Charlie today). I’m still working on being able to change the weather though — that has been a real struggle for me. It’s a shame I can’t just wiggle my nose and point at the sky to make it sunny. I’ll keep working on that.

I challenge you to find something that makes you happy on your worst days — to make the sun shine even when it might be gloomy outside — to not sit and sulk just because the world isn’t working in your favor.

This is when you promise me you’re not going to stop reading my blog because I am a real person with feelings. Ready.. go!

Question: What do you do to turn your bad mood around?

PS — Don’t forget to enter my giveaway!

Tagged as: bad mood, cleaning, how to change a bad mood, motivation, running, shopping