1. Exercise. Whatever works, walk, run, lift weights, just getting out and walking though nature always lifts my spirits. Join a health club, YMCA or local Community Park and Recreation Department for exercise classes.
2. Find time for yourself! Do something self-indulgent--a bubble bath, a massage, a new hair cut.
3. Call, visit, write or get in touch with a long-lost friend, someone who is house-bound, or an elderly relative.
4. Get plenty of sleep. Try to minimize the amount of drinking and eating.
5. Spend time with people who care about you, who are nurturing and supportive. Try and limit the amount of time spent with people that drive you crazy.
6. Enjoy free activities--Walk in the Community park, Watch the sunset, Smell baking bread, Browse through books or magazines in bookstores, or grocery stores (especially in sections you don't normally visit), Window shop without buying.
7. Donate your money or time to a local Homeless shelter, Battered Women and/or Children's Shelter, Hospice, Cancer Association, Hospital, Church, SPCA or Humane Society. Its a way of helping those who may have less.
8. Keep daily expectations manageable. Remember the adage of taking "one day at time."
9. Get out in nature, walk, hike, enjoy feeling the winter chill, or the rush of skiing.
10. Remember the French Proverb:
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French
Proverb
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12. Go to a bookstore or library and try browsing in a section you wouldn't normally go to. Open your mind to a different style of writing.
13. Go to a music store and listen to music. Try an new section.
14. Go to or rent an uplifting movie. Some of the ones that always make me feel better, "Sleepless in Seattle," "Forest Gump," "Apollo 13," "The Princess Bride," "Bed of Roses," "It Could Happen to You," "Sleeping Beauty," "Grease," "The Sound of Music," "The Wizard of Oz," "The Full Monty."
15. Buy a live tree or plant. Green plants help me remember that life is about living, growing things.
16. Send someone flowers or balloons, for no reason.
17. Look for your local community activities--Fun Runs, Park and Recreation Department, Community College.
18. Try and get out. See a play, high school or college to be around people. Check your local paper for listings and ideas.
19. Go to the library or bookstore and attend a poetry reading.
20. Try and keep a cheerful disposition with sales clerks, people
waiting in lines, people in the produce section of the grocery store or
your favorite , people walking their pets in the park.
Simple, genuine statements can often lead to conversations e.g.
"How do you prepare...a particular food item," "That color is really flattering.
It brightens up my day!" "I need to pick a present for my....(fill in the
blank). What do you think of this?"" What type of detergent do you recommend?"
"What a handsome dog!"
Keep trying, you may find someone else who is also experiencing the blues and would welcome the chance to talk with a pleasant stranger and may become a new friend.