Even if something happened to create your bad mood, you’re responsible for maintaining it, and it’s easy to do that if you refuse to see the other side of situations. If you want to believe your best friend meant to hurt you, or the world is against you, or your boss didn’t promote you because she’s out to get you.
Instead of fueling your anger for your friend, feel compassion for the pain she must be in; she’d never hurt you on purpose. Instead of thinking the world is against you, put your day in perspective; everyone has bad days. Instead of imaging your boss is out to get you, realize she had a tough choice to make, and you’ll have more opportunities to advance down the line.
Sometimes when you’re down, it might feel like you have to stay there. But the truth is we can influence how we feel by choosing what we do. Sitting around sulking causes prolonged sadness. Doing something proactive will help you start to feel better.
When you realize you’re the only thing standing between you and a smile, you get motivated to take action. That’s the thing about feelings: you can’t sit around waiting for them to change. You have to do something to change them.