What if you can’t sleep,
mind won’t shut off,
are worrying all the time,
feel like you have no motivation to get out of bed or off the couch?
What can you do to help yourself?
Have you ever had one of those bad days?
You know—not just sort of bad, but really bad?
Messy, painful, frustrating…….Haven’t we ALL??

I have found it to be very helpful to create a LIST of things we can do to get OUT of this ‘blah’ place.   The reason I like this is that we all know there are things we can do for ourselves, but when we are IN that space, we have a much harder time THINKING OF THEM!  So, if you make a list of ideas when you are feeling ok, then you can more easily remember ONE THING to do!

I can only give you examples, but hopefully you can make a “BAIL-OUT” list that works from you using this as a guide.

•    BREATHE!
•    Go for a walk, or some other physical activity (it really DOES help to release pent up energy!)
•    Call a friend (be HONEST about what you are feeling and need from them!)
•    Volunteer somewhere or help a friend (you can’t think or worry while you are doing for someone else!)
•    Start a gratitude journal (you can find at least one thing a day to be grateful for, and you might be surprised how many more!)
•    Do one nice thing for yourself.  What is it that you have been wanting to do but keep getting put off?  DO IT NOW!
•    Play with a pet
•    Watch or play with a child
•    DISTRACT your mind!  Do something mindless, watch tv, read……..but just for a while.  You don’t want to get lost in this, but sometimes doing something totally different will give you a new perspective when you go back to the ‘worry’ to solve!
•    Find something to laugh about, or smile at!
•    What hobby have you always wanted to start, or used to love but got away from?  Do it!
•    Cry, scream, let it out!  (Appropriately, of course) We need to give ourselves permission to have our feelings, and THEN they can more easily dissipate, but if we resist them, they will hang around longer!
•    Always remind yourself that “this too will pass”
•    Keep pad and paper by your bed………sometimes it is VERY helpful to get to sleep after you have ‘purged’ your mind of all the ‘to-do’ things that the mind wants to be preoccupied by!