True Recovery

In this section, we'll discuss several things we can do to improve our overall mood.  Clearly, when we're feeling in a good mood, stressful events are easier to take.  Overall, though, better moods lead to greater self-esteem and better outlook on life.  We'll go over how putting ourselves in a situation to live more positive experiences help our outlook on life.  We'll review how to use Mindfulness to make life a more enjoyable experience.

Living Positive Experiences

Simple pleasures in life, however small, can make all the difference in our lives.  To me, there's nothing more enjoyable to spending an hour just playing with my son.  I love to see the glow in his face and hear the excitement in his voice when I spend time with him doing four year old things.  I can do that, just about whenever I choose and it puts me in a more upbeat frame of mind for hours afterwards.  In fact, I have a pretty long list of things I can do that make me feel pretty good.  True, many of those things, long term, are counter productive.  Still, it makes sense to all of us, to find productive, positive experiences we can do.  Done frequently enough, that emotional boost can carry over into our overall mood and outlook.

How can we live more positive experiences?  Sure, it's easy to say, "let's have a more enjoyable life."  But doing that may seem impossible, given your current situation.  There are two categories of positive experiences:  Short term (smaller ones) that we can do whenever we want, and long-term (bigger, perhaps longer experiences).  First, we need to figure out what those are, both long-term and short-term.  Start by building a list of short-term, easier positive experiences.  Generally, these are things we can, but perhaps don't make the time to do whenever we want.  It could include going for a walk, chatting with a good friend or close family member, going for a swim, reading a book, taking a warm bath, playing with a pet.  Make a list of those things that work for you, keep it handy, and do one every single day.  If you have a crazy schedule, with too many demands, then schedule a practical time (maybe 15 minutes or a half hour) for yourself to do something nice for yourself.  If possible, set aside a larger block of time once a week to do things like go out (a concert, ball game, dinner, museum, whatever makes you feel good doing) with a friend.  Let the people in your life, who depend on you what you'll be doing and ask for their support.  Then take advantage of the luxury.  The more we take care of ourselves, and boost our mood, even slightly, we begin to accumulate positive experiences.

Longer term goals are also important.  These are things that take a little planning and a little work to accomplish.  Think of a vacation, a trip, buying that new car that you so desperately need.  There's no magic to it, simply define the goal, figure out what you need to do to get there, break it out into small, bite-size pieces, then follow through.  Start with something reasonable, that you can do in just a couple of months.  Let's say I want to go on a camping trip for a long weekend with a friend.  What do I need to do, make sure I have camping equipment and supplies, make sure I can cover the costs (gas, campsite fees, supplies, the vacation time, etc.), make arrangements with my friend, with my employer (to take the time off), with the campgrounds (reserve a site), my family (so they know I'll be gone), etc.  Make a list of all the "bite-size" pieces I need to do, then go down the list and do them. When the time comes, I'll have that experience ready to go.