Think of your mood like a recipe, what ingredients you put in will determine what you get out. The same is true for our bodies and mind, whatever you put in, your brain will not argue it will take whatever you give it as absolute and go with it. This means we have a lot of responsibility when it comes to our habits and happiness, it’s a big job that requires a lot of awareness and discipline at the start; it can be hard to break those familiar habits that met a need in the moment but ultimately are problematic long term.

A sour mood is inescapable, humans are not built to be happy all the time. So it’s important to remember, although uncomfortable, that it is normal to have a down day here and there. But there are some things we can do as well as watch out for to make sure we keep the ratio of down days low. First, we must understand what makes ‘unhappy’, generally speaking, there are some well-known creators for everyone that we might forget about (see the list below). For you, you’ll have your own special list that is unique to you, you might know it you might not. If you don’t, it would be priceless for you to begin to study your unhappiness. Start with these questions;

What was happening in the lead-up to the moment you are reflecting on?

what was happening just before you noticed the new feeling?

what were your thoughts about?

what were you focusing on?

what emotions were present?

what physical sensations did you notice?

what urges appeared for you?

did you act on those urges? if not, what did you do instead?

how did your actions influence your thoughts, beliefs and emotions about the situation?

Reflecting often will increase your awareness and intelligence to cope with unhappiness, as well as eventually give you a roadmap on how you get unhappy.

Some notorious culprits to feeling low:

• Staying indoors

• Isolating yourself

• Excessive drinking and drugs

• Not sleeping enough and not sleeping regularly

• Chronic inactivity, lack of exercise, and poor nutrition

• Repeatedly partaking in draining habits or activities

• Perfectionism

• not having time for ourselves or to relax

• Not drinking enough water/dehydration

• Skewing expectations/forecasting

• residing in the past or future

• blaming/not taking accountability

• self-deprecating

• Comparison

• Unwillingness to learn or change

• Absolute language; always, never, only, etc

take some mental inventory- go down the list and just take note of which ones you do and don’t do.

Is there anything that would be easy to become aware of and improve?