“It doesn’t matter if the glass is half empty or half full”, wrote boxer and author Ed Latimore, “the glass is refillable.”

Job stresses, relationship troubles, family drama, etc can beat you down and have you feeling lonely and depressed.

Why You Should Improve Your Mood

“You have the ability to feel good because you want to feel good” Abraham Hicks

You have the choice to waste your life wallowing in your problems, feeling down. You also have the power to control your emotions, regardless of the outside factors happening in your life, and you should. If the ups and downs of life have control of your emotions, instead of you, it’s like riding a roller coaster you didn’t ask to get on, and can’t escape. Master yourself by mastering your emotions.

Do You Have the Power to Control Your Emotions?

Changing your mood is as simple as controlling your emotional state.

You change your emotional state by:

changing your physical location
moving your body
changing your facial expression
changing where you focus your attention.

Like a lot of things in life, these are simple, but not easy, especially the last one.

Humans have the tendency to focus on negative things. Media outlets feed us images of car crashes, bad news, and tragedies. We even focus on the negative aspects about people closest to us, our friends and loved ones. When we concentrate on the flaws in ourselves, our friends, and our situations, we make ourselves miserable.

Luckily, changing your mood is simple. There are many techniques you can use to heighten your mood and feel better instantly.

Run a Preemptive Strike on Negative Feelings

Get out in front of bad moods by preparing to feel good. One easy way is to do favors for future you by setting yourself up for success.

Wake up with plenty of time to get ready for work without rushing. Set your clothes out for work the night before, pack up a lunch ahead of time. Leave your wallet and keys on a table near the door, so leaving the house in the morning is a breeze.

Rushing in the morning is a key cause of feeling stressed, which causes grumpiness at best, and dangerous auto accidents at worst.

This is such an easy thing, yet few people take the time to do it. A few minutes of prep time saves yourself the rush of stress hormones like cortisol.

You will perform better at work and feel better throughout the day if you take a little time to plan ahead.

Get Yourself High.

People who are serious about improving their mood understand the importance of monitoring their thoughts. Don’t dwell on attention dwell on criticism, troubles, and problems any more than necessary.

Solve problems quickly when they pop up, but dwelling on them longer than necessary is making yourself feel terrible for no reason.

Your thoughts are deeply connected to how you feel in your physical body. As Louise Hay said, “Anyone who doesn’t think your thoughts influence your body has never had a sexual fantasy!”

Unnecessary negativity wears your body down. You’ll age faster, stress your heart, and flood your body with stress hormones that poison you long term.

By contrast, positive mental images stimulate dopamine production in your body. Your muscles relax. Your stress levels drop. Your heart rate slows, you become calm. A feeling of well being floods your body and you relax.

Everything is Inside You

All psychoactive drugs on Earth only increase the production of chemicals that already exist in your body.

Techniques like positive thinking, exercise, deep breathing, and meditation are scientifically proven to stimulate your body’s production of psychoactive chemicals that make you feel amazing. With the proper technique, you can get yourself high!

Do Something Kind For Someone Else

This is an immediate shot in the arm for your mood and your mental health. “If you seek happiness for yourself, it will always elude you. If you seek happiness for others, you will find it yourself.”

No matter how low you feel, bringing a smile to someone’s face with a small (or large) act of kindness for someone feels great.

People love to feel thought of and considered. When you see how happy they are with your gift; your spirits will lift.

Do Something Kind For Yourself

Get yourself an ice cream cone or a nice cup of coffee. Take a warm shower. Get a scented oil diffuser and make your space smell good with essential oils.

There’s so many small, easy, inexpensive things you can improve the way you feel.

Laugh Yourself Into Tears

Comedians make us laugh by pointing out the silly aspects of mundane life. Stream jokes on Pandora or Youtube. It’s impossible to stay in a bad mood when you’re chuckling uncontrollably.

Play Upbeat Music

I dare you to be grouchy with a bass line bumping and Rihanna pleading, “Please don’t stop the music (…music….. music…music….)

Crank up the beat and dance your bad mood away.

Go For a Run

If you’re feeling really down, the BEST thing you can do is get out for a run, if you’re able.

Running increases your heart rate. Runner’s high is all the endorphins surging through your body. That’s why so many runners say they are addicted. Find a treadmill, running path, or trail. If you are physically capable, go running.

Listen to Positive Affirmations

Attuning you attention to higher vibrations puts problems and temporary moods into perspective.

How to Control Your Mood and Always Feel Good