Simple Steps to Make You Feel Better Now

Change your ways,

Change your mood

When we struggle with sadness and depression, it can often seem like nothing can make us feel better. We lose motivation to do the things we used to do. We simply don’t feel like doing things. They don’t feel as exciting or enjoyable as they once did. You don’t want to exercise, don’t want to call your friend back, don’t want to go out. You just want to sit on the couch and zone out to TV, or sleep your free time away.

The problem is we end up removing the things in our life that make us feel better, which in turn makes us feel worse. Once we feel worse, this only reinforces our desire to not do anything, which makes us feel even worse. It’s an unfortunate cycle in which we get stuck.

To break this cycle, we must do things to make us feel better… even if we don’t feel like it. It’s called opposite action.

Opposite action is a psychological technique where you do the opposite of how you are feeling. If you feel sluggish and want to lay in bed all day, get up and out of the house. Run errands or go for a hike. When you are feeling sad, put on fun uplifting music and dance around the room. When you feel afraid, confront the thing you are afraid of. It may be difficult at first, but pushing yourself to do this will aid in your process of healing.

So, the next time you’ve had a bad week and just want to shut yourself off from the world, stay in your pajamas all weekend while binging a 10-season series, don’t. You can still watch an episode or two, but make sure you are engaging in the activities that really energize and revitalize you.