Sad Days

So generally speaking I am a pretty cheerful person. I like to smile at people, I like singing songs and dancing about. I like baking cakes and telling jokes and then laughing at them so much that I can't get the punchline out.

However, like most people, every now and then I find myself having a sad day. These days come at you out of the blue. You can wake up in the morning feeling ready to take on the world, and then something happens that makes a part of your brain snap. Next thing you know, you find yourself crying in the shower while listening to Bonnie Tyler (we've all been there).

Then there are the times when the sad day decides that it doesn't just want to steal twenty-four hours of happiness from you. It lingers. You try to cover it up with other things, but it finds its way back. Like when your hands smell like onion and garlic after cooking, you can put as much pomegranate hand cream on as you want, but deep down you know that in a few minutes that that will wear off and you'll be back to smelling like a burger grill.

There are things I can do to make myself feel slightly better when I'm having a sad day. Such as fighting (and I mean really fighting) the urge to spend the day in track pants and food-stained tee shirt and actually getting in the shower, washing my hair and putting on clean clothes. It doesn't have to be a formal dress with opera gloves and top hat (although sometimes that ensemble does help to boost my mood). It just has to be a clean pair of track pants, and a teeshirt that won't drip out bolognese sauce if you squeeze it.

Listening to happy music or watching a movie or TV show that makes me happy helps to, however I do have to be careful with my choice. Certain Disney movies sometimes have to go on the no watch list during a sad day. If you're already emotionally fragile you do not want to take on a major Disney Journey.

Another important one, I have to try not to isolate myself. When you're sad, its hard to step outside and interact with people. But usually once I do go and spend some time with friends I feel a lot better by the time I get home. And if I really can't handle human contact, then its good for me not to just let the sadness sit in my head. I dance around my house. I read a book or write a story. I clean or play scrabble against myself. Something to take my mind off of going over and over the sadness.

And, of course, every now and then, I like to have a cup of tea, a biscuit and a good cry.

Sometimes, however, you'll find that even though some things will make you feel better, they won't make the sadness go away. The thing that sucks most about sad days/weeks/months is always the waiting. I know there is going to be a stage when I will stop feeling sad, when whatever it is that has been bothering me won't bother me any more. So I just find myself waiting for it to stop sucking.

But at least I have found a few coping mechanisms to get me through till then.

I guess the main reason for writing this post is just to say that if you are going through a sad day, you can get through the "waiting" stage. And you are most definitely not alone. Everyone everywhere has been through a sad day.

Let me know in the comments what your coping mechanisms are for sad days.

(PS) I promise I am going to try and post more regularly from now on. But you should note that the operative word here is "try"