Last night, you went to bed feeling fine. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. However, you got up this morning, feeling irritable, perhaps depressed, and not ready to move forward with your day. What happened? How can you start your day feeling like this?
When this happens, we may tend to excuse our irritability by claiming that “Somehow, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.” With this negative mindset, we go through our day until we go to bed, hoping that “tomorrow will be better.”
However, waking up in a bad mood doesn’t have to mean that the rest of your day is completely shot. We all have had days like these. While we may have a tendency to just accept our feelings at face value, how about digging deeper into them to identify the source of these feelings? It’s important to do this because how we feel about our lives and situations affect every aspect of our lives, from important decisions to our relationships with other.
There are a number of factors that can affect your waking mood. If we don’t learn to get to the root cause of our feelings, we can then easily allow ourselves to become victim to the ebb and flow of our feelings. However, the good news is that we still have the power to turn our day around!
Every moment is a new moment, full of potential for change. Just be cause you are feeling down doesn’t mean you have to remain there. You have a choice and can take certain steps to shift your feelings into a more positive direction.
1) Take time to reflect on the possible root cause. Perhaps you woke up in pain, or you didn’t get enough rest. Maybe you feel affected by the weather. Or, perhaps you got into an argument with a loved one. Whatever the reason, write it down, perhaps in a journal, so that you can look at each cause clearly.
2) Evaluate your feelings. What are you feeling? Anger? Sadness? Depression? Or, perhaps you’re frustrated that you had a disagreement with someone close to you? Whatever you are feeling, do not judge yourself for feeling these emotions. They are there for some reason, and when you can evaluate them in a non-judgmental manner, you will then be able understand the events that may have contributed to you feeling the way you do.
3) Why did the root cause, or contributing factors, evoke these feelings? For example, if someone close to you criticized you or spoke to you in a harsh manner, is what was said to you is true and you’re simply unwilling to deal with it? Or, did you become offended by feeling criticized unjustly? Remember that nothing that anyone says to you should be able to affect you so deeply, unless you give them the power to. We ultimately are responsible for how we feel, so instead of becoming upset, take a step back, breathe, and put some time and distance between what was said and how you want to instinctively respond.
4) What can you do to change those feelings into positive ones? As you take some time to unravel the event and the way you’re feeling, spend some time in nature, which is always grounding and can help to center you. Reflect on what’s good and working well in your life and reassure yourself that you will get through this. Spend time in prayer or meditation, reaffirming your value as a person, reflecting on all the challenges you’ve successfully come through. Perhaps you can repeat some positive affirmations or use tapping to further internalize positive thoughts and feelings about yourself and the situation.
Our waking mood can truly give us some insight into our subconscious. Once we understand the root cause and the feelings that arise, we can take ownership of how we feel and place our mind on more positive things. Sometimes, our feelings only need to be recognized in order for us to let them go.
You don’t have to let your waking mood be the determining factor of how your day will unfold. Take control of your day so and make it a happy one!
Ready to make your health a priority? Contact me here to schedule your consultation.
