Be You

We spend a lot of our time comparing ourselves to others, how they dress, what gadgets they have, how good looking they are etc. We can’t help but notice how well they are all doing. These thoughts frequently flood our minds: “She has so many followers.” “Why does his work get so much attention?” “Why can’t I be like them?”

Comparing yourself to others will not help you get further in life or with your skills. It only creates envy and jealousy.

When you constantly compare yourself to others, you will try imitating your way to success. “It worked for them, why wouldn’t it work for me?” I hate to break it to you but you can’t replicate your way to success, nor should you try to. Stop trying to be another version of someone else. Become a better version of yourself instead.

Always be a first rate version of yourself and not a second rate version of someone else.
Judy Garland

And the only way you can do this is by CHOOSING YOURSELF!

What does it mean to choose yourself? It means following what James Altucher calls the “daily practice”, which is being physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually healthy.

When most people think of being healthy, they only think of physical health. But physical health is not enough. Every part of you must work in conjuction to be truly healthy.

When you follow the daily practice, your best self will shine through. Things will start coming together in mysterious ways. Your body will feel great, you will have strong relationships, your mind will work better than ever, and you will be at peace with your life.

When you choose yourself and stop trying to be like everyone else, you become a first rate version of yourself instead of a second rate version of someone else.

The ancient Greek storyteller Aesop is credited with crafting scores of tales with valuable moral lessons. Many of them still resonate today, including the following tales about being yourself.

The Jackdaw and the Doves. A jackdaw paints his feathers white because he likes the looks of the doves’ food. But they catch on to him and chase him away. When he goes back to eat with the other jackdaws, they don’t recognize his white feathers, so they, too, chase him away. Guess who ends up hungry!

The Eagle and the Jackdaw. A jackdaw, envious of the eagle, tries to behave like one. But without the eagle’s skills, he gets himself into a sticky situation and ends up as a pet for children, his wings clipped.

The Raven and the Swan. A raven who wants to be as beautiful as a swan becomes so obsessed with cleansing his feathers that he moves away from his food source and starves to death. Oh, and his feathers stay black.

The Ass and the Grasshopper. This story is similar to “The Raven and the Swan.” A donkey, hearing some grasshoppers chirping, jumps to the conclusion that their voices must be a result of their diet. He resolves to eat nothing but dew, and consequently starves.

Leave your Comfort Zone, Enter your Growth Zone

Life is full of opportunities to step outside the comfort zone, but grabbing hold of them can be difficult. Sometimes the problem is not being aware of reasons to do so. After all, if the feeling of comfort signifies our most basic needs are being met, why should we seek to abandon it? What holds people back most of the time is their frame of mind rather than any distinct lack of knowledge.

From the ancient sailors who weathered storms to explore new lands to the modern digital entrepreneurs who’ve built remote online businesses, life continues to reward those who venture into the unknown. Why? Because they’re the ones who were willing to get uncomfortable. They’re the ones who’ve embraced discomfort and the true nature of the human experience: An always-changing, ever-evolving, growing process.

Getting out of your comfort zone can lead to so much satisfaction and increased self-confidence. It can also teach you new skills and improve your resilience as you prove to yourself that you CAN take on challenges.

I came across this illustration that beautifully represents the journey from the comfort zone to the growth zone

Source: PositivePsychology.com ‘*Leaving The Comfort Zone*’ Toolkit

It takes courage to step from the comfort zone into the fear zone. Without a clear roadmap, there’s no way to build on previous experiences. This can be anxiety provoking. Yet persevere long enough, and you enter the learning zone, where you gain new skills and deal with challenges resourcefully.

After a learning period, a new comfort zone is created, expanding one’s ability to reach even greater heights. This is what it means to be in the growth zone.

The Comfort Pull

Your comfort zone is tempting. It’s that comfy couch that calls you over, wraps you with warmth, and then sucks you deeper into its core. It’s seductive. But linger in it a little too long and it becomes harder to stand up again—the gravitational pull is too strong.

And that’s the reason you stay stagnant where you are.

You’re not in motion or action. When you’re not moving, you’re not exploring. And when you’re not engaging in new experiences, you’re not learning or building new skills—you’re just there, existing in time, but not evolving through it.

The irony of the comfort zone is this:

You will most likely not be willing to step out of your comfort zone and into discomfort until you are extremely uncomfortable with the comfort zone itself.

When your comfort zone becomes so uncomfortable, that’s when the spark is lit. And that’s when you need to step up to the stage and ignite the fire. That’s when the new version of you needs to show up.

Discomfort in the status quo is a sign that it’s time to make a change, and discomfort demands a new version of you to show up.

We tend to think that discomfort is our enemy. But what if we changed the lens we’re looking through? What if we began to see discomfort for what it is: Our ally. The voice. A whisper so loud, it trembles our body. Our inner guidance telling us that we are meant for more because we are capable of more.

And what if we allow it to move us into action?

Discomfort in our comfort zone is the sign that it’s time for us to step out of that zone and get really uncomfortable as we fully step forward into our growth zone.

Between where you are today and where you want to be—who you are today and who you want to become—there’s discomfort. It’s the passage that carries you forward. Embrace it, and you will bloom. Shun it away, and you will shrink.

Mistakes are Essential for Growth

“I made a mistake.” Those are four words nobody ever wants to have to admit. Mistakes are a part of the learning process of life. Mistakes don’t always have to be bad, but the human reaction to making a mistake is usually a bad one. If you are like me, you beat yourself up over making careless mistakes. I like to strive for perfection and hate to disappoint people, but in reality, I make mistakes too. You replay everything in your head and try to figure out where you went wrong. In the end, you have to live with what you did. If you are lucky enough, the mistake can be fixed. Realizing that it is OK to make mistakes is the key to helping you live a happier life.

You aren’t the first

It’s funny we don’t usually think of others who screw up as inept, but when we falter, it’s a different matter. We imagine we are useless and don’t forgive ourselves.

Everyone makes mistakes. What’s more, trillions of people experienced the same gaffes before you. It’s easy to imagine you’re the first to be unsuccessful, but you’re not alone.

When you make an error, let yourself off the hook. Be kind with soothing self-talk. Offer yourself the advice and generosity you would give to a beloved friend. Remember, everyone fails to achieve the results they want at times, and doing so is part of forming the life you want.

Nothing stays the same

Life flows, life moves on. Sometimes, it looks as though nothing’s happening, but change is forever afoot. Beneath the dirt, a network of roots grow and plants take their first tiny reaches for the surface so they may feel the sun. The wheel of life never stops turning.

All things, your mood, the weather, and circumstances alter with time. One day soon your mistakes won’t mean anything anymore and the negativity you experience will fade from your memory.

Vulnerability is endearing

Did you ever notice how successful, seemingly perfect people, have a huge entourage, but not many close friends? People admire them, but they are in awe. Additionally, who wants to be best buddies with someone who shows you up all the time simply by being perfect?

We gravitate to people who aren’t afraid to show they are real and have problems the same as the rest of us. When they make mistakes, we warm toward them and recognize ourselves in their blunders and embarrassment.

It’s useful to be super-efficient, but perfectionism doesn’t help you connect with people. You need to be vulnerable and mess up occasionally.

When you are at your lowest, people can rise to the occasion, help, and feel closer to you.

Successful people screw up

Some of the most successful people I know made huge mistakes on their journey to achievement. Several earned, and then lost, massive amounts of money before regaining their losses, or made other blunders.

You will meet setbacks and make errors just because you are on a voyage of discovery. Recognize accomplished people screw up too. Your mistakes are not proof you won’t make it.

Blunders are stepping stones

Each mistake takes you one step closer to your goal. It increases your wisdom and experience, so you know more the next time you face a similar challenge.

Focus, not on failure, but on progress, and see mistakes as helpful. Remember, every blunder is useful. It shows you what not to do next time and urges you to try a new angle that might work. Carry on, and you’ll find a way forward.

You’re growing emotionally

You can’t change into a wiser version of yourself unless you transform. Like a caterpillar, you must undergo experiences that change you to become a greater version of yourself.

You grow as a person when you make blunders too. Your insights expand, you gain self-awareness, and you’re better able to understand others because, when you see them screw up, you’ve been there before and can empathize.

Mistakes show you what to improve

Have you ever met someone who thinks they know everything? Well, you realize they are wrong. Until they mess up, they don’t recognize where they must focus to increase knowledge though.

You can’t see your blind spots, areas under the radar needing attention until your mistakes highlight them.

Blunders might fill you with shame and anxiety, but they are integral to growth. You must fail occasionally to rise back up like a wave with renewed strength and wisdom.

Is the Risk Worth Taking?

We all keep taking risks every day, some big, some small. Most, if not all of us only hesitate when you feel something important is at stake. Whether you love adventure or you always focus on what could go wrong, guidelines can help you objectively assess the value of taking risks.

One question I keep asking myself when in a dilemma is “one year from now will I regret not doing this?” Some risks aren’t worth the consequences. And If you are considering a decision that will change your life, you need to flesh out a vision of the job, relationship, or lifestyle you want to create and a plan for getting there before you leap.

Some risks are based on how much pleasure you will gain, such as choosing an exotic vacation, buying a new car, or getting a new phone. You can look at what value you will get from taking the risk and then weigh that against the value of not doing it. There’s no guarantee you will feel happier but you will be clearer about what you might gain.

There’s no way to predict how you will feel in the future.
Stumbling on Happiness, Dan Gilbert

Other risks are based on relieving present discomfort. Although you feel frustrated, resentful, or bored, you shouldn’t take a risk just because you don’t like what you have now. You need to be clear on what you want instead so you know the risk will move you forward.

Here are some pointers that help to determine if a risk is worth taking

Use a sounding board. Your brain wants to keep you within your personal safety zone, which differs for each situation depending on past experiences and your taste for challenge. It is better to talk through options with someone who will not be affected by your choice, someone who will be objective. Also, don’t choose someone who likes to tell others what they should do. As you explain the pros and cons of risking, notice how you feel. How badly do you want what the risk will give you? Do your reasons make you feel proud or satisfied? Your emotions may indicate how important taking the risk is to you.
You could also try the Coin Trick. Assign your options to heads or tails. Flip the coin. The moment you see the result, are you disappointed or relieved? The trick might help you uncover what you really want to do.

Catch your “shoulds.” It’s hard to make a decision when you are attached to other people’s opinions. What do you think they will say if you take the risk? Try writing these statements down to identify your fears of their judgments and your guilt about disappointing others. Recognition of your should-based actions can also free you from black-and-white, stay or go, decisions. You might find other options available to you when you clearly understand what you want for yourself in the future.

Know your why. Be mindful of being driven by needs for recognition or acceptance. When you assess the value of your risk, what type of satisfaction do you gain? What outcome will you be most proud of over time? What would you do if you had no people to take care of or please? Twenty years from now, what would you love to tell people about the risk you took? What story do you want to be living?

For life-changing risks, consider the strengths you love to exercise. Can you envision using these strengths in a deeply satisfying way?

When I dare to be powerful, to use my strengths in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.
Audre Lorde, Activist

Be honest about what could go wrong. Don’t ignore hazards. When you look at possible problems, how would you handle them? Fear can blind you to your options once you take a risk. Consider bad outcomes, determine the likelihood they will happen, and what you would do next.

If you decide the risk is worth taking, commit to taking a few steps, even if the steps are small. You might read a book, have a conversation with someone about the direction you want to take or sign up for a class on starting a business. Do something to keep moving. Then, if things don’t go as you hoped for, allow for self-correction. Learn along the way.

No matter what you decide, you will encounter difficulties. You will question your choices. You may even find your choice was just a step to the next as you create many chapters in your life.

Which risks will you regret not making a year from now? Decide what risks are worth taking and take the first step today.

Not Everyone Is Genuinely Happy For You

When something beautiful comes our way we run to share the good news with friends, family or colleagues, and their wide smiles, giggles, hi-fives, and awkward jumps, fool us into thinking they are genuinely happy for us. Think again. Not many are genuinely happy for us. To be fair, a few are genuinely happy for you. Yes, it’s a weird world we live in but there are still a few genuine friends, family and colleagues.

A lot of people view life as a competition or a race. Some people have this mindset that they have to do better than someone else. In their minds that can mean a handful of things: getting married first, having the flashiest car, having a bigger house than their so called “friends,” or making more money than them. People like these are either not happy with themselves or trying to prove to others that they look happy and are “winning” at something.

Competition is healthy but unfortunately, competition doesn’t always make the best of friends. It is possible for everyone of us to succeed, but not everyone does. People who do succeed don’t succeed at the same exact time as you. There will certainly be a gap of years between your success and that of your friends. It is easy to say that we will be happy to see our friends do well for themselves and acquire great achievement, but the fact of the matter is that we all get a little jealous.

Funnily enough, when you see someone succeed, you are reminded of your lack of success. It’s silly, but human beings usually prefer seeing people worse off than they are because it makes them feel that they aren’t doing so bad for themselves. I guess we are all competitive by nature and knowing that we are not in last place is more comforting than being reminded of how far behind we are. Of course, there will be some people in your life who will truly be happy for you when you hit the jackpot, among them will be your parents.

There may even be some friends who aren’t competitive or driven, who will be supportive. Everyone else will vary in how much they loathe you for beating them to the finish line. Some closer to you, will do their best to hide their unhappiness and jealousy, while others will try to put you down and point out flaws or reasons the success won’t last. We are all not cut from the same fabric, where some are undoubtedly, brewing with high hopes and arriving with a head full of dreams.

Yes, success takes a lot of hard work, focus and sacrifice and a bit of luck. It’s a waiting game. It’s those who are patient and diligent enough to stay in the game that end up on top. So picture this; you put in so much hard work, sacrifice and focus and then with a bit of luck, you succeed and you feel like sharing this with friends, genuinely. Some frown on this behind your back and wish your success won’t last. I guess we were all given plain level playing field but I aimed higher right from day one and it has yielded me fair results, but you frown on mine?

Sadly, pursuing your dreams involves a lot of downs before ups. So seeing other people make it, even if they are your friends, feels like a slight kick to the gut that intensifies, depending on how down you are. I also firmly and staunchly believe that, when you are genuinely happy for people and pray for their success, help promote their business, you are definitely unlocking doors for yourself too and you can never tell what could be waiting for you at the corner. Praying for other people’s success and elevation, can bring you a whole lot, genuinely.

Not many people would want to talk about such stuff especially when they consider themselves to be good friends with whoever is basking in glory, they feel guilty for feeling the way they do. They know that they should be happy for their friends, but sort of hate them for being able to do what they still haven’t managed. It’s these people that find it the hardest to hide their disappointments in your happiness because they don’t really care whether or not you remain “friends.” That is, unless they know they can use your newfound success to their own advantage. They are not happy for you; they are happy to know you so they can exploit you.

Sure, when you succeed in something grand, all you want to do is talk about it, share it with your friends and bathe in the glow for as long as you can. However, if you know your friend is having a difficult time, that he/she is likely to be jealous or bummed out of your success, you may want to take one for the team and find a way to boost his/her confidence instead of rubbing it in or boasting about your achievements.

It’s funny how our generation has information about others at the touch of a button, just to compare and contrast. Others fake it all by posting fake successes and life events on social media, so they won’t be left out. Why go through a whole lot of fake stuff just to prove a point?

Keep doing you, embrace the ups and downs, and share what you want just knowing that most people are there for the information. Know who to share with. Tell the people closest to you about your life’s ups and downs, they are the ones who truly care and support you.

Some of God’s Greatest Gifts Are Unanswered Prayers

All of us who have put something in God’s care always tend to steal it right back. It is not that we intentionally do it, but it is very natural for us to go back to something that we are concerned about. How do you leave a problem in God’s hands and not steal it right back?

Usually when we neglect to leave a problem in God’s hands the “stealing it back” comes in the form of mental musing over the problem. You know, those anxiety conversations that we have with ourselves in our mind, act out in our imagination, and eventually spill over onto someone’s peaceful day.

Therefore we have to catch those little though starters of doubt or anxiety before they become long conversations in our self-talk.

Trying to control every aspect of our lives rarely brings the control that we are seeking. Instead there is the adverse effect that causes us to become more weary and anxious than ever. We all want good things to happen in our lives, but too often we want it now…not later. When it doesn’t happen that way, we are tempted to ask, “When, God, when?” Most of us need to grow in the area of trusting God instead of focusing on the “when” question. If you’re missing joy and peace, you’re not trusting God. If your mind feels worn out all the time, you’re not trusting God.

The tendency to want to know about everything that’s going on can be detrimental. Sometimes knowing everything can be uncomfortable and can even hurt you. I spent a large part of my life being impatient, frustrated and disappointed because there were things I didn’t know. God had to teach me to leave things alone and quit feeling that I needed to know everything. I finally learned to trust the One who knows all things and accept that some questions may never be answered. We prove that we trust God when we refuse to worry.

God gives us hopes and dreams for certain things to happen in our lives, but He doesn’t always allow us to see the exact timing of His plan. Although frustrating, not knowing the exact timing is often what keeps us in the program. There are times when we might give up if we knew how long it was going to take, but when we accept God’s timing, we can learn to live in hope and enjoy our lives while God is working on our problems. We know that God’s plan for our lives is good, and when we entrust ourselves to Him, we can experience total peace and happiness.

God causes things to happen at exactly the right time! Your job is not to figure out when, but to make up your mind that you won’t give up until you cross the finish line and are living in the radical, outrageous blessings of God! The more you trust God and keep your eyes focused on the divine, the more life you’ll have. Trusting God brings life. Believing brings rest. So stop trying to figure everything out, and let God be God in your life.

Here is a lovely song by Garth Brooks which I am reminded of when writing this post

The Most Important Part Of The Body

When I read this quote I am reminded of this lovely story shared by a dear friend.

My mother used to ask me what the most important part of the body is.
Through the years I would take a guess at what I thought was the correct Answer.

When I was younger, I thought sound was very important to us as humans,
so I said, “My ears, Mommy.”

She said, “No. Many people are deaf. But you keep thinking about it
and I will ask you again soon.”

Several years passed before she asked me again.
Since making my first attempt, I had contemplated the correct answer.

So this time I told her,
“Mommy, sight is very important to everybody,
so it must be our eyes.”

She looked at me and told me,
“You are learning fast, but the answer is not correct because
there are many people who are blind.”

Stumped again, I continued my quest for knowledge and over the years,
Mother asked me a couple more times and always her answer was,
“No. But you are getting smarter every year, my child.”

Then one year, my father died. Everybody was hurt.
Everybody was crying.

My Mom looked at me when it was our turn to say our final good-bye to my father.
She asked me, “Do you know the most important body part yet, my dear?”

I was shocked when she asked me this now.
I always thought this was a game between her and me.
She saw the confusion on my face and told me,
“This question is very important. It shows that you have really lived in your life.
For every body part you gave me in the past, I have told you were wrong and
I have given you an example why.

But today is the day you need to learn this important lesson.”

She looked down at me and threw her head to my shoulder and hugged me.
I saw her eyes well up with tears. She said,
“My dear, the most important body part is your shoulder.”

I asked, “Is it because it holds up my head?”

She replied, “No, it is because it can hold the head of a friend or a loved one
when they cry. Everybody needs a shoulder to cry on sometime
in life, my dear. I only hope that you have enough love and friends that
you will always have a shoulder to cry on when you need it.”

Then and there I knew the most important body part is not a selfish one.
It is made for others and not for yourself. It is sympathetic to the pain of others.

if/else in CSS

As we know, there are no conditional statements in CSS, but this may soon change with new @when and @else operator

Currently, the only way to perform a conditional statement was to use media queries like this:

We can use CSS preprocessors like SASS which allows us to write condition statements in it. Even if you use SASS you have to pre-process your stylesheets which means that the condition are evaluated at compile time, not at run time.

SASS Syntax:

The above work well, but in the new proposal it looks much cleaner and very similar to many programming languages.

Here is the new proposed syntax

We can do multiple conditions as well by using multiple @else statements, and not just use @media, but @supports too.

Naming this new feature is still not clear. I think that @if would be a better name than @when. However the reason behind this naming is probably that Sass already uses @if, and it would be very annoying to many developers if they had to refactor their Sass code.

The bad news is that it’s not supported by any browser at this moment, it’s not even listed on caniuse.com

What do you think about this new proposal?

Collect Memories, Not Things

Do you remember your first phone, or that awesome Starbucks caramel latte you bought last week? How do those items make you feel? Now, think of a Christmas with your family. It probably isn’t the gifts you think of first; you probably think of the conversations, the laughter, and the board games. Lasting joy doesn’t come from objects, it comes from experiences. Our brains are like living scrapbooks; they collect moments in time, frame them, and revisit them constantly. We can derive happiness from these memories years after they are made, and we can enjoy them in a way we can never enjoy material things.

Most of us can distinguish quite clearly the difference between the pleasure we get when our new phone arrives vs. the happiness we feel during a dream vacation to a place we’ve been dying to visit. Whereas we may feel excited during the days leading to a vacation, we tend to feel impatient when waiting for an object. Where most of us lose interest in a new gadget or toy relatively quickly, we tend to cherish a memory.

The more important things in life aren’t things
Anthony J. D’Angelo

So, in this society of materialism, how do we change our focus from consumerism, to the pursuit of experiences? Most of us aren’t going to jump off the couch right after reading this and go skydiving, and that’s OK! Some of the happiest moments in our life aren’t the most exciting ones. Here are several ideas to help you start collecting.

Make A Bucket List

We all have things that we secretly want to do. Making a list and sticking it up on your bulletin board will bring those experiences that much closer. Most of us give up on our more ambitious plans, believing them to be impossible or too expensive.

Keep An Adventure Jar

Keep a jar on your kitchen table. Every time you decide not to buy something you don’t really need, or decide not to eat out, put the money you would have spent on those things in the jar. Most of us don’t realize how much money we could save if we didn’t spend it on little, pointless things.

Have Some Small-Time Goals

Not all experiences need to be world-changing. Try doing something differently every week or even every day. Choose a different way to get to work, or have some new people over every once in a while. Take a little time out of the day to experience life instead of becoming stuck in a mindless routine. You may be surprised how these little things can change your life.

Take Time For Family And Friends

Some of the best memories we have are with other people. Just a conversation with a dear friend may be enough to bring you happiness one day when you’re feeling down.

Be Open To New Things

Many of us are afraid to stray outside our comfort zones, which will often keep us from experiencing many things in life and result in regret. Life is meant to be lived. Do new things, they’re how memories are made!

When we shift our perspective from yearning for things to collecting memories, we maximize our potential to have amazing experiences, regardless of our material possessions!

Feeling Blue?

Perhaps today you woke up feeling blue. We’ve all been there because, well, we are all human. It is normal to feel down sometimes. Negative emotions can be a result of anything from suffering from a tragedy to just feeling sad for an unknown reason. When you feel stressed or sad, it is important to slow down and take time out for yourself.

If you are reading this, chances are you want to do something to lift your spirits. It is helpful to have a list of things that make you feel good to keep in the back of your journal or hidden in a drawer for moments when you might need them. It may be hard to think of things when you’re in a tough spot. Below are a few ideas of things to do when you feel blue to help give you a lift:

1. Get Some Exercise — Exercise is a natural, healthy coping strategy for stress and feeling down. Getting your heart rate up releases endorphins, feel-good chemicals, which help with viewing your circumstance from a more balanced, positive perspective. Exercise has also been associated with increased creativity which helps with problem-solving. Even 10–15 minutes can help make a difference.

2. Listen To Music — It turns out that listening to your favorite tunes and singing along does more than just entertain your neighbors. Listening to music has been used for centuries to reduce stress. It has been used to treat both physical and mental symptoms. According to Dr. David Lewis, a cognitive neuropsychologist, listening to music reduced stress in study participants by 61 percent.

3. Have Coffee or Lunch With a Friend — Sometimes talking about what is making you feel the way you do, helps you see it from an outside perspective, even if there isn’t one thing making you feel down. There is nothing like having a great friend to talk to about your emotions. Even if you don’t talk about them, just having someone there to take your mind off of your current state is priceless.

4. Take a Nap — Not getting enough shut-eye is a recipe for emotional disaster. If you haven’t spent enough time sinking into dreamy bliss, taking a nap may help restore balance. On the flip side, if sleeping is your “go-to” when life gets rough, you might want to avoid this one and push yourself to get out instead. For short term stress, it can help. However, if you notice you have been going to bed more frequently, it may develop into an unhealthy coping mechanism. It can also be a sign of depression and you should discuss it with your doctor.

5. Have a Solo Dance Party at Home — It is hard to dance at home by yourself without a smile on your face. Dancing helps you get in touch with your authentic self. Doing it at home allows you to express who you are in a safe environment. Plus, you may end up finding some new dance moves you can use in public.

6. Draw or Paint — Like dancing, doing art, even if you don’t consider yourself an artist, helps reduce stress, fosters creativity and helps you get in touch with your true self. Psychologist Carl Jung recommended patients color mandalas as a way of improving their psychological health. For decades, therapists have used art therapy and have reported positive results in patients.

7. Avoid Drinking Alcohol — Although there are thousands of memes that make jokes about drinking to relieve stress, it only leads to worsening symptoms. Your body has a natural defense mechanism to deal with anxiety and stress, using the nervous and endocrine systems to help achieve homeostasis. Alcohol interrupts this process and takes a toll on your body both physically and emotionally, which can compound feelings of stress and anxiety.

8. Get Outside — Spending even five minutes outside can improve your mood, especially in natural, green spaces. We live in a world where our attention is constantly being pulled in different directions, adding to unwanted stress. Getting outside and appreciating the beauty of nature, can help slow our minds down and has a calming effect.

9. Have a Cup of Tea — It may sound far-reaching, but there is something calming about the ritual of making a cup of tea and sipping it. It reminds us to slow down. Herbal teas used to induce sleep, like chamomile and lavender, also help with stress. Having tea outside, perhaps at an outdoor table, is a bonus since getting outside for fresh air is also helpful for making us feel better as discussed above.

10. Read a Book — Reading a book is a great distraction. A good book will take you to new places and get your mind thinking about the story rather than your unwanted thought patterns. Dr. David Lewis discovered that reading was one of the most effective ways to reduce stress. His study found that reading reduced stress levels by 68 percent.

11. Text Your Friends a Kind Message — It is great to focus on what you like about a friend and tell them. Making someone else feel good helps spread kindness and it usually comes back full circle, even if not immediately. It helps to put your mind in a positive place about others and can remind you of what you like about yourself.

12. Prepare a Healthy Meal — Cooking is a form of creativity and preparing healthy food in a tasty way can be fun and rewarding. When you choose a difficult recipe, one that challenges you, it forces you out of cooking autopilot. It also means you may have to get out of the house to buy ingredients. Besides the cooking side of it, eating a good, healthy meal will help prevent poor eating that can come along with stress and sadness.

13. Listen to Comedy — Laughter has always been touted as “the best medicine.” There is truth to that adage. Listening to something that makes you laugh is the best way to shift your mind into a more positive state. Many of the popular music streaming apps have a comedy station, and you can choose if you want explicit humor or not.

14. Do Something Outside of Your Normal Routine — Vacations are great for switching your mindset by taking you out of your normal routine and getting you to look at yourself and the world from a different viewpoint. The good news is that you don’t have to travel far to gain this benefit. Being a tourist in your own town is valuable as well. Visit a local museum or botanical garden.

15. Turn off Screens — If watching T.V., playing video games, or constantly checking our phones made us happy, we would be the happiest culture that ever existed. Unfortunately, many studies have shown the contrary. If you feel blue, I highly recommend taking a “screen fast.” We should all do that regularly.

It is normal to feel down sometimes. When you do, it is important to develop healthy coping strategies so that we can help our body’s natural process of recovery. Do you have a healthy strategy for when you feel down? I would love to hear about it. Leave a comment below!