Five Ideas to Lift Your Mood Today

There’s a saying I like: Be kind, for everyone you encounter is fighting a hard battle. I think this is true, and the sacred Scriptures of many religions recognise that suffering and life go hand in hand. Nevertheless, there is good in every day, and I thank God for that. Also, in my experience, good days often follow bad days, so remember that other great saying: This too shall pass.

If you’re having a bad day today, I hope you will benefit from the suggestions below. They are all things that have helped me to cope with life’s struggles in the past.

---

Create a new playlist on your phone

If you have Apple Music, YouTube Music, Spotify, or another streaming app, you can take fifteen minutes to create a new playlist featuring only songs that you presently love. I did this the other day and it felt like a relief when I filtered out songs that I no longer enjoy, for whatever reason. I absolutely love the fact that technology has enabled me to have access to pretty much any song I might want to listen to, but often my musical taste changes or I don’t feel inspired by the AI-generated playlists these apps feature. So yeah, make yourself a new playlist today and enjoy the comfort of knowing every song you listen to is one that you love.

---

Create a gratitude list

Sometimes, with all of life’s busyness, we start to take things for granted. It can be good to pause and take stock and remember that God is meeting our needs every day in so many ways. A few months ago I published a blog post featuring 20 things I felt grateful for on that particular day. You can read that post here — it might inspire you to make your own list. By all means publish your gratitude list as a blog post, it might inspire others to do the same.

---

Do a 20-minute cleaning blitz

There’s always more we can do to keep our homes clean and tidy. I’m a minimalist myself (more on that below) but even so my flat can easily become messy. I find it helpful to set the timer on my phone to 20 minutes, and get as much tidying and cleaning as I can done in that time. You can reward yourself afterwards with a nice drink and you can listen to your newly created music playlist (see above) while you tidy.

---

Make an inventory of everything you own

Doing this was a game-changer for me. Living in unstable accommodation over the last few years has left me with with a fear that I could have to move out at any time. Moving home is recognised as one of life’s most stressful events, but this will be made much easier if you’re aware of everything you own. I use Apple Notes to list pretty much every item in my apartment, categorised by room. Doing this will help you to declutter — you will notice things you have that you don’t use and therefore don’t need, including things that you are doubling up on unnecessarily. Having an inventory is also thoughtful in terms of your family, who may have to sort out all your belongings if you are unexpectedly met with adversity.

---

Get into nature

If you’re able to, spend some time outside. If you have green spaces or a beach near you, take a walk and find a quiet place to sit peacefully for a while. You could bring your headphones (if you have some) and listen to your newly created favourite music playlist (see above). Failing that, a good book is always a good bet!

---

I hope you’ve found at least some of these suggestions helpful! Please let me know in the comments if you will be implementing any of them, or if you do some of them already. I know there are a lot of lists like this circulating on the Internet these days, but sometimes (for me, at least) I stumble upon a suggestion that makes a difference in my life. I hope this is the case for some of you, with some of my ideas.

Wishing you a wonderful day,

Steven ❤️