Beating the Blues

Have you ever had one of those days when you woke up feeling down in the dumps for no reason? If you are like most people, those kind of days occur once in awhile. It isn’t a pleasant feeling but what can you do except ride it out? Surprising there are things you can do to shake off the blues and brighten your day. Best of all they won’t cost a thing.

• Listen to some music you can sing along too. That’s right. Music not only soothes the savage breast, but it can actually elevate your mood. Put on Neil Diamond’s Brother Love Traveling Salvation Show or Song Sung Blue and sing along. By the time the song ends you will be feeling much better. Newer songs can have the same effect as long as they are upbeat and easy to sing along with.

• Share a Laugh. Laughter is indeed the best medicine to improve your mood. In fact just thinking about a funny movie you liked and you will find your mood improving.

• Watch a Cat Sleep. Just watching a cat sleeping all stretched out as though they don’t have a care in the world makes you feel less tense and more relaxed. No cats available? Then pet a dog, watch your hamster play in his wheel or groom a horse. Believe it or not interacting with an animal relaxes people.

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  Take a Walk, Run, or Jog. Exercise tends to burn off excess tension, which may be the cause of your blues. Relieve the tension and your blue mood is gone.

• Shout it Out. Go somewhere private and just scream at the top of your lungs. If the shouting itself does not lighten you mood and relieve tension, then the laughing when you realize how stupid you look should do the trick.

• Do a good deed for someone else. Lend a helping hand, offer someone a smile, give a compliment. Doing something for someone else not only makes them feel good, but makes us feel better too.

While we can’t always prevent waking up with the blues, we can certainly do something about it. Try one or two of these suggestions, you have nothing to lose except that dark cloud hanging over your head.