Up-ing the Down

It's so hard to feel hopeful some days. Maybe we know the source of the happy leak and maybe we don't, but either some knowledge or none does little to fix the funk or up the down.  It takes effort.  Roll up the sleeves and grab the shovel WORK.  Push, pull, yank, and tug.  Petulant - sometimes even kicking and screaming - we need to find our way out of ourselves long enough to get out in the open air, look around, and see life ain't so bad after all. 

So ... how to go about up-ing the down?

Move. Any kind of movement works.  Make the bed.  Go  for a walk.  Sweep the floor.  Move you and you'll move your mood.

Listen.  A little music interrupts the spinning cycle of your own thoughts.  Start slow and work your way up in tempo and groove.  Hum.  Sing.  Dance.  (See above.)

Smell.  A little olfactory disruption works wonders.  Light a scented candle. Brew a pot of coffee or sip some peppermint tea.  My go to:  bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies.  Ahhhh.  Comfort on a cookie sheet.

Do.  Completing just one procrastinated or dreaded task bosses a mood around.  Get busy.  Busy people won't wallow. 

Create. Make something where once was nothing.  Cook.  Paint.  Write.  Build.  Plant.  Sketch.  The verbs of new hope.


Organize.  Order the chaos.  File the bills.  Dejunk the drawer.  Empty the inbox.

Read.  Go somewhere entirely different from where you are in a matter of minutes.

Clean.  Shine is hope's spotlight.  Hard not to be hopeful when the laundry's folded and the floors are swept.

Give.  Of yourself.  Your time.  Your attention.  Who needs you?  Be the hope.

Help.  What can you do to up someone else's down?

Pray.  God knows what you need and when you need it.  Have faith.  Your hope will be restored.