The thing I fear most is fear. -- Michel de Montaigne

This morning I woke up from a bad dream.  I woke up tense and sad.  Bad dreams do that to you.  Bad dreams can set the mood for the day.  A bad mood can create a day of unhappy experiences.  So the real question is how to let go of a bad dream and move into a good mood?  Because a good mood is what makes for a good day!

How do we get from a bad mood to a good mood and what is a mood anyway? I’m going to define a mood as how we feel and not how we think.  It’s about feeling something that is quite indefinable and then acting it out.  I woke up feeling, grumpy, tired, and sad.  I don’t want my day to play out this way so I need to find a method to change my mood.  All of the above are my feelings.  I can’t tell you why I have them or where they come from accept that I woke up in a bad mood.  My dream was part of the mood but not the entire cause. 

We all know what it is like to walk around in a bad mood and to take it out on others.  We also know what it is like to have another person’s bad mood taken out on us.  The first thing we need to do is acknowledge our mood. My husband and I have tried to develop this skill as it helps our relationship.  We try to tell each other we are tired and in a bad mood and ask the other to be patient with us.  This is good for a relationship.

Now to lift myself out of a bad mood I do series of things.  I start with a cup of tea in the morning.  I take a little time to myself without the rush and push of the day and slowly wake up.  I hug and kiss my husband, have a light breakfast, and then go to the gym. Exercise always lifts me from a bad mood.  It gets the endorphins popping and I feel better in body and mind.

For many individuals a down day, a depressed mood or a life’s problem is used as an excuse to not get out and get moving.  However probably the best thing you can do when shadows loom is get your body moving and clear your mind.  Exercise, even if it is a brisk walk will do more for your health than any thing I can name.  The best way to motivate yourself is to reverse your thinking.  When unsettling moods arrive, think exercise. Make exercise the antidote. So here is the plan for lifting a bad mood:

1. Acknowledge your mood
2. Sooth yourself
3. Get a hug and a kiss
4. Have a light healthy breakfast of fruit and yogurt
5. Get dressed and get moving
6. Smile
7. Be grateful for just one thing in your life
8. Consciously drop your mood
9. Make someone else smile
10. Enjoy your day – there will never be another day like today.

Doctor Lynn
www.doctorlynn.com