To ask you what do you do to cheer yourself up

[proseccoandbooks]

When you had a bad month day?

Recently I've not had a great life. Quite a few bad news, arguments with DP, etc

On the bright side, it's almost 3 weeks since I've quit smoking! Yay me.

So what do you do? How do you keep your head up high and most importantly, how do you give yourself credit? I noticed I have a tendency to put myself down and to be kinda evil to myself....

Thanks, lovely mumsnetters!

I sew. At the moment I have huge mountains of everyday stuff to cope with, so I sew smaller things (knickers today!) which don't take up much headspace or room in my office. From experience, keeping your hands busy can help when trying not to smoke too (well done on quitting!).
I find the sewing itself very soothing and when I finish something I feel less stupid, more accomplished and generally happier. It also makes me very happy to wear the clothes I have made for myself- I know it sounds odd but the clothes I have made feel friendlier than bought ones. They also fit better, so I look better and that cheers me up.
In the past I've also made cakes to cheer myself up, and taken them to friends and neighbours as gifts. The feeling of not being as useless as I'd thought is the same as with the sewing. And it was nice to share the cakes- I wouldn't necessarily intrude on other people without an excuse, but bringing cake made it seem okay.

Unfortunately I spend money on useless tat aka shite i don’t need.

I eat chocolate. Never fails!

Eat

Eat or drink wine

Garden really cheers me up, always ! It’s addicitive
Swim and sauna
Stretching and yoga
Call a friend
Turn your phone off and focus on family
Drink 🍺

And yeah shopping

Yoga! Or a coffee with a friend.

Well done for quitting smoking!! I really want to quit also but find it so tough so well done!

Sorry you've been struggling lately :( I know that feeling all too well.

I have to try and keep my chin up on a daily basis, I always look for the positives in that day (just one day at a time) it can be anything, even something small. Some days I find this harder than others, but if I feel like I've had a sad day I say to myself when I go to bed.. tomorrow will be different and I WILL wake up feeling positive! Seems silly maybe, but I do talk to myself a lot lol!
Also I'm the same with being my own worst enemy sometimes.. my friends usually say 'stop being so hard on yourself' so I know what you mean about giving yourself credit. But again, it's the little things that count! So today I think to myself.. my children are fed, clean, loved.. my house is.. Okay not immaculate.. but I didn't burn it down when I done the dinner so.. go me! See i could also lool at it like.. well i didnt call that person I was supposed to.. I didn't manage to do the ironing like I needed to.. but I won't allow myself to do that anymore as I know I'll get those jobs done at some point. So yeah that's how I try and stay positive, sorry if I've rambled on a bit but I'm just sitting here on while other half is on the PlayStation lol!

I hope your okay anyway and things pick up for you. X

Curl up with a large mug of tea and a magazine, ideally in bed.

Get some fresh flowers in.

Play the piano.

I’ve had a rough few days. I’m sat here with wine. Because it tastes fabulous 😋

Get outside. If I don't spend time outside I soon start to feel a bit miserable. I think it's to do with sunlight, perhaps also seeing the natural environment. So that means a walk (or if the weather's bad) a run in the morning, or in winter at lunch time, a couple of times a week and ideally every day! Good luck OP, sounds like you're doing great (re smoking, and self-awareness)!

Climbing
Scuba diving
Caving
Go for a walk

Search on Google for funny memes

Look for a few positive things, however small.

Mindfulness meditation video on YouTube.

Oops maybe I read your post wrong so sorry haha!

Coffee and cake with my other mummy friends keeps me going!! And love listening to my favourite music and singing my heart out!!

I did this thread once, years ago.
I had loads of answers but one of them said "I buy a new nail varnish."

I now have a bag FULL of nail varnish.
It's a small thing but it works.

That, but not before wine and a bubble bath.

Well done on the not smoking! It's funny how the negative voices are always the loudest. I go to the woods for a bit of Forest Bathing. My kids know when life is getting me down that Mummy needs to go to the woods!! I also spend time with friends, to get out of my own head. I treat myself to a scented candle/book and wine night. Could you pick an event and work towards it (charity walk/race for life/climb a mountain etc) The endorphins might pick you up??

In the past when I was depressed, I set myself a thing to do every day. It might be baking bread, or walking a mile, or anything really- I used the same thing every day for a few weeks, and would tell myself that so long as I coped with doing that thing, I wasn't doing so badly that day.
When I was really struggling (and frequently suicidal) I set four small task for myself each day. I had to get dressed, leave the house at least once, talk to at least one other adult and also prepare and eat food. Having to focus on these smaller things got me through the day and stopped me from dwelling so much on the death of my baby.

The things that actually work: reading, having a bath, watching a film or TV show I actually want to see (not just the first thing on netflix/youtube), keeping up my exercise routine.

The things that don't work: too much time on social media, stopping exercising, staying up too late, too much caffeine or alcohol, binge watching junk.

Buying something lovely but pointless for the house.
Getting a proper hair cut.
Having my nails done (literally have only ever done this twice in my life but it was so relaxing and I felt properly fancy afterwards!)
Cake.
Wine.
Going to a garden centre and buying a big plant (instead of tiny ones you have to grow on and wait years for).

... Basically actually treating myself to something because I feel like I deserve it, rather than only ever getting things for other people.

Forest bathing sounds amazing- there are no trees where I live though!

Not typical behaviour and I’m not well off but I am currently sitting In a lovely hotel room because I have had enough of the crappy commute home to a DH who is the other side of to many beers. Shame I have to get up for work in the morning but at least I’ll be presented with a huge cooked breakfast before I set off on the 5 min walk around the corner.

Dance in the living room with my boyfriend blasting Michael Jackson with a nice cold glass of baileys 😂😂

@whatjusthappenedthere Well that just sounds blissful! Enjoy

I go into the woods, too!
Or I watch lab puppies on YouTube..
Or go round all the charity shops..

It used to be called Jack Daniel's, I believe, but that went up to 32 pounds a litre so now it's called Clarke's Bourbon from t'Aldi for just under 12 for 700ml.

Trouble is, it's very fleeting. Sometimes it's just long enough for a bit of a mood reset so long as it's not done too often.

I wouldn't recommend booze to someone who's so recently quit tobacco though because it weakens the resolve.

Congratulations on the quitting by the way. It's so hard. You should be really proud of yourself to get this far.