Five Things: Pick-me-ups

When it rains, it pours, right? And the past month or so? Well it hasn't exactly been sunny around these parts. Here is my tried and true recipe for surviving these downpours:

Humor it. When hard times hit, I find it hard to dig up the motivation to leave my bed - this is decisively un-me but sometimes, I just have to briefly humor it. Take a little time to rest, grieve, just generally let whatever is bringing you down process. This may mean allowing myself an extra hour to sleep, going to bed at 8:30 or giving in to a short afternoon nap. But limit it! Don't waste a whole beautiful day indoors sleeping in self-pity. Set an alarm to limit that snooze, down some caffeine and get moving!

Indulge. Everyone has something that eases the pain, calms the nerves, and temporarily makes it all better. I happen to really like food, so I give myself two days to eat whatever sounds good. This generally results in two days of ice cream, mac and cheese and animal crackers, but you know? It gets me over a hump and ready move on to number three:

Get active. Go to the gym, go swimming or dancing, take the pup out for multiple walks per day - whatever feels good, just get out of the house and into the sun, and work off that two day mac and cheese binge! It will raise your energy and clear your head.

Treat yourself. Indulge in a little bit of retail therapy, nab something that you wouldn't normally spend on. Please note that I am NOT endorsing a shopping spree. Maybe it's a really nice bottle of wine/scotch/etc, or a new CD or movie you've wanted. In my case, this was buying $14 Clinique mascara as opposed to the $5 drug store shit that I've been using; it makes me feel prettier on a daily basis, so it pays itself out.

Get productive. You've given yourself time to rest, spoiled yourself, and defeated the pity monster. The healing process has begun. Nothing feels worse than feeling like you haven't done anything worthwhile, so be productive! Clean your place, finish a project, write/draw/do whatever you do! Once you're on the productivity train, do what you can to change what got you down in the first place.

What do you do to tread water when it floods?

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