Snap out of a bad mood with these fun tips

Listless! You’re the modern novelist’s dream. Bored with everything and everyone, life seems futile, and you don’t feel alive. Snap out of it! List out and do all the crazy things you always wanted to do.

Remember a time when you did feel alive (there has to be a point like that, otherwise you wouldn’t know that you don’t feel so peppy anymore) and recreate it.

Melancholic! You can’t afford to be moping your life away. If your life doesn’t seem so hot, interfere in someone else’s life with a good intent. It could be a favourite aunt or a best friend who could use help tiding over a rough patch, or someone whose life could use exactly the kind of know-how you specialise in. On a more serious note, NGOs and charities are always short of volunteers.

Stressed! The secret to a long and happy life? Just breathe. Stop and take a deep breath when your nerves begin to tie themselves into little knots of worry (it won’t look weird if you stop to do this, even in a public place. In fact, it makes for quite a dignified gesture). To go further with the breathing theme, try to inhale something you would like to breathe in. Aromatherapy candles at home, potpourri at your desk, fresh flowers, all reduce stress and give you a feeling of well-being and contentment.

Bored! Nothing to do? Work!! People who have absolutely nothing to do get bored and depressed. Take up an old hobby, or something interesting that you always wanted to do. Start doing the things you’ve been promising yourself you’ll get around to doing someday, like catching up on your reading. You could even get a part-time job, or enroll in a course. And whatever you do, it should work your mind, not just distract it!

Bottled up! Are you the mysterious soul tormented by a secret sorrow? Such people are interesting only in the movies, or in Gothic romances. Let it out! It is OK to cry, though a public airing of private woes may not be such a great idea. See a sad, tear-jerking movie that will bring out those unshed tears. According to the Aristotelian Theory of Catharsis, when you feel the main character’s emotion like your own, your repressed feelings come out and your system is cleansed.

Happiness is a process, something that you have to find and foster just like everything else in your life. Get off your behind and grab your share of sunshine!