How to be positive on a bad day

On a day when it rains, you don't have much to do or perhaps have not had the greatest day it is very easy to become very inward looking and sad. What we often don't realise is that by being sad and projecting that into the world without any resolution/ way to improve our mood that is what we get back and therefore get stuck in the spiral of sadness. Nobody is happy all the time, and everyone has a bad day, however it is absolutely vital to make yourself happy and positive as often as possible to simply keep going. Here are some of my ways when it comes to dealing with a bad day ( or a bad time more generally).

1. Realise that you are not feeling great, and don't try to suppress it.
I feel like the mistake we all often make is trying to suppress how we feel with the words of "Oh, it will go away". Sure that might be true in theory but you simply putting it into a far away box isn't going to solve it nor will it ensure that you start feeling better. On a day when you are not finding things interesting, keep saying no, look sad and angry it is important to recognise that you are experiencing those emotions and deal with them appropriately to make sure you are not faced with a huge explosion later on. If writing helps ( it has saved me many times and has stopped me from pushing my emotions back) note how you feel down, and explicitly state what you are experiencing. Note, nobody is saying that you should be telling all of your friends about how bad you feel or constantly moaning about your bad day. What tends to be more productive is having some time to yourself and thinking about your personal experience.

2. Identify what is making you feel upset.
Now that you have recognised how you feel it is important to think of the factors which might be impacting you. If it's a sad event in your life, a person/people, grade, experience, whatever else it might be - note it down. When you clearly identify the causes of your discomfort you can find ways to deal with them or eliminate them fully. However, before you have any kind of solution in mind it is absolutely vital to identify what is making you upset because you will be able to deal with all of those individual factors one by one and eliminate their impact in the long term.

3. Think of solutions to deal with the things which are making you upset.
Following the previous suggestion it is important to find rational ways to deal with the issues you are faced with. Sometimes it is easier and other times it is harder, but nothing is impossible. If it's a person or maybe you've been in an argument with someone try and think of ways to have a conversation with them and maybe adjust to how they prefer to communicate whilst also expressing your concerns in a reasonable manner. If an unpleasant experience is making you feel uneasy try to think of the positive things you managed to do that day or with that person and leave the negative aside ( clinging on to unpleasant past memories will do you absolutely no good, so it's better to leave it behind and keep smiling).

4. Fill your life with positive reminders.
What I particularly enjoyed doing was making an inspiration board which I filled with fun photos and reminders of positive experiences. All it takes is a piece of cardboard, glue/pins and some photos/ things you can pin to the board to remind you of the good times you've had with your friends and any other people you value. Another way in which you can use a board like that is to put up your aspirations in the form of pictures of the things you would like to achieve in your life. Having that in front of you will act as a powerful motivational tool and will fill your life with a much more positive outlook.

5. Do something fun/ something you enjoy.
When you are having a bad day it is incredibly tempting to stay in bed all day, not do anything and just feel sorry for yourself. As much as I think that staying in bed is fantastic, I don't think that it takes you anywhere when you are already not feeling like doing much. It is therefore very important to do something to stimulate yourself. If you enjoy art  - draw something, play some funky music and dance to it, dress up, express yourself via makeup and colour or read a book you have been wanting to read for a long time. When you really aren't feeling it on a particular day it is absolutely vital to get up and going even if you have no plans for the day as it will give you energy and will fill up your life with happiness.