10 Stupid Pointless Things to do when you’re Grumpy.
If you have been grumpy and moody and grimacy for a few days.
So I’ve checked in with myself, and friends, and gathered some basic, pointless advice.
Most fall into the category of Just-Because-They’re-Obvious-and-Don’t-Seem-to-Help doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep trying.
1. Meditation (I’ve been trying to do it. It hasn’t felt like it’s been enough. Sometimes, group meditation is the thing—so we can’t sit informally on our own, and so we sit for longer periods of time).
2. Eating good, simple, real food: not too much, not too little
3. Exercise (nothing forces us to join our mind and body together in the present moment like reality, rushing at us—bicycling, climbing, yoga…breathe deep).
4. Friends: their advice and their shared experiences help us wrap our dark, solid minds around our mood, instead of merely drowning in our mood.
5. Sunshine—get out, stay out
6. Dharma (read, learn, go in). Read some wisdom. Time to learn.
7. Dress well (our tendency when things are hard is to get sloppy. Go the opposite direction, and uplift yourself. Posture is key, here, too).
8. Get away from everything. Go on a hike. Nothing will save you… but nature will save you:
“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods
There is a rapture on the lonely shore
There is society, where none intrudes
By the deep sea and music in its roar;
I love not man the less, but Nature more,
From these interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the Universe, and feel
What I can ne’er express, yet cannot all conceal.”
~ Lord Byron.
9. Take a break. Take a hot bath or watch a silly movie.
10. Relax. Give in. We won’t feel better until we feel better. So don’t worry—there’s no point.