Taking Control of Your Bad Mood

So you're in a bad a mood, maybe someone said something to you out of line or in the wrong way, maybe you're still thinking about an argument between you and a friend the other night, or it could be that you just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, but whatever it is, you are NOT a in good mood today. So what do you do? Me? I try to either stay to myself or have as little contact with people as possible until I'm out of my funk. What do others do? I've found there to be 2 other paths that most people take. Some want to talk about. They may complain out loud or make some obvious verbal hints that they are in a bad mood, hoping you take the bait and ask them "what's wrong?" Or some may just walk right up to you and start venting. The second path I've seen people take are the ones who take their bad mood out on any and everyone that crosses their path. If they're having a bad day, EVERYONE is having a bad day. These are just 3 different paths to take, I'm sure there are many more, but which one is the right path? Not everyone is the kind of person who can work it out on their own and talking it out may be their best therapy. The third path mentioned, making your bad day everyone's bad day, is definitely not the right path to take. It may work in making you feel better at the moment, but in the long run you're going to lose a lot of friends.

I've come up with 3 steps to take when you find yourself in a bad mood. I think the first and most important thing is to recognize that it's not everyone else but it's YOU. When you find yourself in the position where it seems like everyone around you has an attitude and is saying things to tick you off, realize that if it's EVERYONE, then most likely, it's really ONLY YOU. YOUR THE ONE WITH THE ATTITUDE. Recognizing you're the one with the problem is step 1.

Step 2 is to find a way to relieve that stress, because all any bad mood or attitude is is pent up stress, no matter what the reason behind what caused it. So find out how to release it, whether that be spending some alone time with yourself, venting to someone (preferably someone who is already a friend because venting to potential friends is often is a good way to not make any new ones - no one really wants their good mood ruined by your bad one).

And Step 3 is moving past it. Our moods, up or down, no matter what the cause, are really up to us! I'm not saying that it's easy, you can't expect to say "I will be in a good mood" and instantly your mood is brighter, but willing yourself in a better mood is possible. Allow yourself to get past whatever was bothering you and move on.

Taking control of your bad mood isn't as hard as it may seem, it just takes some honest self evaluation, and that's the hard part. But hey, if you can't be honest with yourself, who can you be honest with? So keep these steps in mind whenever you find yourself a little cranky.