Oftentimes, when I’m not in a good mood, I simply decide to be in a good mood, and soon I am in a good mood. It’s surprisingly effective. You just have to consciously tell yourself that you decide to be in a good mood and try to be in a good mood. Of course this doesn’t work all the time. I’m generally a happy person, so it’s perhaps easier for me.
I was once in a horrible mood… I felt really guilty/regretful about something I’d done earlier, and felt terrible. Then I was distracted for about half an hour by math homework, and when I was walking outside a few minutes later I caught myself whistling. I was like “Whoa, self! You’re supposed to be upset right now!” and almost descended back into the pit of despair, but then I stopped midstride and said “Wait a sec. Why would I want to be upset?” and so I didn’t. I kept whistling and had a great day.
Of note: doing this does expend willpower, but I’ve found the more often I do it, the more “in a good mood” feels like my default state, and the less willpower it takes on average to get there.
Oftentimes, when I’m not in a good mood, I simply decide to be in a good mood, and soon I am in a good mood. It’s surprisingly effective. You just have to consciously tell yourself that you decide to be in a good mood and try to be in a good mood. Of course this doesn’t work all the time. I’m generally a happy person, so it’s perhaps easier for me.
I was once in a horrible mood… I felt really guilty/regretful about something I’d done earlier, and felt terrible. Then I was distracted for about half an hour by math homework, and when I was walking outside a few minutes later I caught myself whistling. I was like “Whoa, self! You’re supposed to be upset right now!” and almost descended back into the pit of despair, but then I stopped midstride and said “Wait a sec. Why would I want to be upset?” and so I didn’t. I kept whistling and had a great day.
Of note: doing this does expend willpower, but I’ve found the more often I do it, the more “in a good mood” feels like my default state, and the less willpower it takes on average to get there.
Seconded; all the above statements are true for me too.