By Joseph Rutakangwa
There are 6 things to do when you’re feeling down especially in these tough times for many of us. Jobs have been lost, businesses closed, rent overdue, and bills unpaid, the list goes on. It feels like life is closing in on you and the world has conspired to bring you down. Maybe you can’t see your next move now, but you need to stay afloat while your mind regroups.
Here are 6 things to do when you’re feeling down:
Listen to music
I have not experienced a stimulus with so much influence on my emotions as music. With music alone, I’ve learned to completely dictate how I feel and what I dream at night. If you haven’t done so, spend time learning what type of music or specific songs influence your mood. Once you have that figured, in times of confusion just hit the play button and all will be in balance – within. What we experience in the outside is determined by what we’re experiencing inside, so we need to have our inner selves in balance. You can easily achieve this with the right song.
Spend more time outdoors
Do some spontaneous outdoor activity, an unplanned road trip, get lost in a new city, take long walks, attend a random event, etc. When I’m down, I usually hop on a random train, get off at a random destination after hours, and all of a sudden I start feeling alive. The mind needs the thrill to reboot and that’s when you need to step out of your routine and do something exciting and unexpected.
Talk to people you love
When things are going right, we may be too busy to spend enough time with loved ones and bond. Because of this, we may find ourselves sinking very fast into depression when things go off-road. Spend more time with people you love, and not necessarily for the purpose of trying to solve your problems, but just to be present. Even if you’re all going through tough times, the mutual suffering stimulates the mind and actually acts as positive energy you can use to lift yourself up.
Watch funny videos
We know that stress causes or exacerbates many serious health problems including heart disease, high blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythms, heart attacks, stroke, and many others. To avoid this, we need to laugh. When we laugh, our immune system is strengthened by increasing our production of antibodies and cells which fight off disease. Watch stand up videos on YouTube, and other videos of what you find hilarious. Laugh until you fall off that couch.
Watch “trigger visuals”
I define Trigger Visuals as moving pictures that cause your brain to fall into a particular “mode” of your choice. Some examples;
– When I want my brain to come up with new music arrangements I watch music biopics.
– To reboot and re-engage business in a new way I watch movies like The Founder, Joy, or listen to Jim Rohn, Les Brown, and the likes.
– If I want my brain to drop into a calm state I watch mellow movies like Almost Famous, Love, Rosie, About Time, and the likes.
Daydream
You’ve brought yourself back into positivity by listening to the right songs, went on an unplanned trip, now spending more time with loved ones sharing laughter and you watch inspiring visuals. All of a sudden, you’re envisioning a brighter future. You need to double down on this by adding details to your imagination and making it as vivid as real life. If I’m imagining myself sipping a sleek cup of tea in my office watching over a city skyline through a glass wall, I’d start adding details;
– What brand of tea is it? I’d say Da Hong Pao tea which is $1.2 million per kilo.
– What am I wearing? A Dormeuil Vanquish II suit – roughly at $95,000.
– If I’m drinking Da Hong Pao tea, how much is the company making per year? Let’s put this at $120 billion.
– And I keep adding the details until I’ve built a whole world.
And there you have them: 6 things to do when you’re feeling down. Yes, life can hit hard, but we have these 6 things that we can apply to bring ourselves into the right state of mind that will then allow us to access the next levels of growth.
Read my other article on what to do if you’re stuck in life.
Life is for living, tap into it.
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