Don't let a bad mood change your moment for the worse
Every moment of our lives counts, deeply. It's in unexpected moments that big things happen. Babies are born. Ideas flash to mind. You miss a plane that gets hijacked. A careless comment changes everything. The moment is where it all happens.
Most of us do not however, feel in control, positive and happy every moment of our lives. There are days when life just doesn't feel good. In those times when we feel depressed, disinterested and negative, life could present us with one of those moments - an unobvious choice that could have significant life consequences.
It's vital therefore, that we do not passively accept our negative inner experiences. We must actively manage ourselves from negative states into positive ones, states that empower us to respond optimally at all times. Wisdom of the soul says: 'no one can ruin your day without your permission'. Don't give yourself permission to stay in a bad space, and to help you do this, here are some techniques that I have found really work:
Bad mood: Unfortunately bad moods arrive without warning, and often at the most inconvenient times, like when you need to be at your best! I have found repeating the phrase 'I am beautiful on the inside, and beautiful on the outside' shifts the mood. Whilst my focus is on altering my energies and not my physical appearance, doing the exercise often results in a comment on how nice I look that day. The energy of beauty is visible, as is the energy of a bad mood! Repeat the phrase out loud until you feel better, even if you have to do all day. Don't loose the moment.
Poor attitude: This state, like a bad mood, can turn up out of the blue leaving you confused as to why you suddenly have such a pessimistic view of everything and everyone. Some people live with a permanent bad attitude and it must be agony seeing life through such a black lens. Either way it's a state of mind not to be tolerated, and if you are in search of success, it's essential that you move to change it as quickly as possible. There's no better way to do this than to remind yourself of the power of your thoughts on body-mind-soul.
Our thoughts are energy that spiral into our bodies. Negative thoughts, being electrical in nature, create a negative charge that causes our system to power-down. So potent is the process, that a negative thought could be seen as attacking you. And it is this realisation that offers a change-point. Describing your thinking as an attack, clearly conveys how active and damaging a negative thought is. Therefore, every time a negative thought floats through your mind, say 'that thought about (the problem: my colleague/husband/my weight) is attacking me'. Stated thus, your mind can't help but reject the thought, and choose better.
Bad moods and poor attitude are real for all of us. They might disable you temporarily, but you can choose whether they will cripple you permanently. You now have some great tools to prevent permanent damage, and next week I'll be sharing some more.
But in the meantime make sure the welcome mat of your mind is not making negative inner moments your long-term guests. Make active choices about your personal states. Choose to manage your inner world moment by moment. Managing life in the moment will automatically manage life's bigger picture.
© Catherine M Glennie
First published in the Argus, Job Shop Supplement
