Help With The Hard Days

Photo byPriscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦onUnsplash

Have you ever had a day when you feel exhausted mentally, physically, and emotionally? Most of us have those days occasionally. It usually happens when a perfect storm of challenges hits us in succession. We need a moment and a chance to recharge. There is a great children’s show called Bluey and in one of the episodes the mom heads off to her room to be alone, and when her children ask why she did that, she answers, “Sometimes I just need 20 minutes.”

When we have rough days, and our energies are depleted, we need some ways to recover and recoup our forces. We need to don our mental armor to face another day. Here are a few ways to recover that work for me and I hope they will help you too.

· Run away. Running away can take a variety of forms. I solve most of my mental fatigue by going for a long run. I can think through what is bothering me or empty my mind completely. If you don’t like to run, go for a walk. Maybe simply the act of moving away restores peace.

You can also run away to a place that brings you joy. That could be a local coffee shop, restaurant, bookstore, or a favorite room in your house. My frequent retreat involves me telling my husband I am going up to my room, and I’m not coming back down. I climb under the covers and either turn on mindless television or read. The other day I had nestled in when my daughter called and told me she was doing the same thing.

· Go outside. Nature has healing power. I love sitting on the porch while I listen and watch everything happening around me.

· Be still. I am terrible at this, but I recognize the benefits. I just have difficulty staying still because I want to do a million things, or there are a million things that need to be done. I had gone to the dermatologist to have a skin cancer removed and he told me to take it easy the rest of the day, so I was lying on the couch watching television when my son walked in and said, “Mom, are you sick?!”

My daughter has a three-year old and runs her own business. She is even worse at being still than I am. The other day, her son fell asleep on her and she couldn’t move for two hours while he napped. She told me it is those moments that tell her the importance of slowing down.

When you are still your senses are strengthened and you hear and see things more. Clear your mind and breathe.

· Take care of something. Taking care of someone or something else is healing and it can take your mind off any troubles you may have. Taking care of something else can make you feel better. It has been proven that pets are good for our mental health. They love us unconditionally, and they can calm us down when our emotions are high. Taking care of plants can have the same effect.

· Watch your favorite movie. Watching a movie and becoming lost in a story can help us forget our issues.

· Listen to music. Music is healing. Listen to your favorite tunes and let your problems melt away.

· Take a nap. A tough day doesn’t seem as bad when we are rested.