Some time ago I woke up and felt greyish. No idea why. Maybe a week of incessant rain had finally gotten the better of me. Maybe I had spent too much time at my desk. Maybe this unfriendly person on the phone the day before was still bugging me or maybe it was the worry about my kid’s teenage problems.
Whatever the reason, it was one of _those_ days. I felt grey and not even in mood for chocolate (I know!).
So I tried to think my way out of it. Needless to say, it didn’t work. The more I resisted the greyness, the greyer I felt. As if I hadn’t known that already. In the end, after starting half-heartedly ten things only to drop them and moping around, I finally remembered the questions I’ve asked my clients a gazillion times:
“How do you want to feel?” and “What has worked before?”
I wanted to feel the opposite of grey, which for me means luxurious. And with this my head cleared and I spent the morning doing those things that unfailingly make me feel luxurious:
1.) Dressing up. Don a fabulous dress, make your hair and put on make-up. It takes a lot of work to stay depressed when you look your best!
2.) Clear a drawer. Just one drawer all organised, clean and sparkling, is an instant pick-me up.
3.) Leave the house. Had I gone for a walk along the Seine or a swim or seen the latest exhibition at the Grand Palais or met a friend or done some people-watching in a café, I would have saved myself a lot of grey-ness. As it were, I went for a long walk to…
4.) Buy flowers. Having always fresh flowers is one of the things we think about far more often than we actually do it… and yet flowers elevate a room instantly! There is not one luxurious hotel or palace where you won’t find flowers!
5.) Make a gift. However down you may feel, doing something for someone else is going to uplift your mood and upgrade your sense of self. I invited a friend for lunch, had fun improvising a meal with what I found in the fridge and offered her a book I knew she had been wanting to read. She was happy and so was I!
I turn on the kind of music I need at that specific time, to get out of that specific mood. I have a few playlists I’ve selected on Spotify, either slow or shaky, indie pop or classical. I just pick the one that I’m sure will lift my spirits up, and… c’est parti !
Elisabé, thank you. I have the same – special music for special moods.
I love each of your suggestions, Rima. In addition to yours, here are some things I also do.
1) I repeat a mantra I learned from Carol Burnett’s daughter Carrie- “Each day I decide: today I’m going to love my life. Decide.”
2) I do 5 quick minutes of core strengthening exercises to stoke the coals in my body and spirit.
3) I put on music and song and dance to it. Bhangra works wonders!
4) I write in my journal each morning.
5) I enjoy a cup of coffee with cream and write one note to a friend. Then I mail it!
Amy, awesome, thank you! I especially love your mantra, will try it out tomorrow morning 🙂