Rant: Bad Mood

It's been quite a while since I've had one of those days where I'm just in a shit mood.

I guess I'm blessed with my irritation being limited to fleeting moments. It does help that my fiance has an incredible sense of humor that he uses to get me to laugh and snap out of it.

Of course, it's not even noon yet and I'm stuck at the office with this incredible bad mood that I just can't shake. What's worse is that I really don't have any good reason for it.

But it got me to thinking about crappy moods and that people, in general, allow their happiness to be affected by the behavior of others way too much.

There are so many times in life where, when you encounter someone who is in a wretched mood, their reasoning is because of something someone else did or said. Here are a few good examples:

• People you encountered were rude - customer service, those you run into during a commute, colleagues at work, the list goes on.
• Someone you trusted betrayed that trust - whether a friend spilled the beans on something you confided or a family member called you out and/or didn't support you in public, their actions directly affected your mood.
• You received non-constructive criticism.
• Or even something as simple as someone not behaving the way you had expected.

I've come to learn that expectations can lead to bad moods, because it's not uncommon that when you have high or very specific expectations of others that they're often not precisely met. This isn't at the fault of the person for whom you have these expectations though, especially if you haven't been open about what you expect. So either set expectations up front (when it's appropriate, anyhow) or learn to be a bit flexible.

Flexibility in any type of relationship, whether it's a family member, significant other, close friend or casual acquaintance, understanding that everyone is unique and goes about things in different ways can come to benefit you in the long run - if nothing else than keeping frustration at bay.

No one likes to be wrong or to not have things go their way, but if you can be a little less rigid in your daily dealings, it won't feel so much like "being wrong" or being disappointed - it'll just feel different (thanks to my yoga instructor for discussing rigidity during class last night...turn out that was pretty timely).

It all comes down to having some control over your own happiness. Have a bit of confidence in yourself and the actions you take. If you truly believe in yourself and the life you're leading, you can learn to incorporate flexibility into you outlook.

And if nothing else, you can look at the naysayers knowing that it's not you, it's them.

Anyway, this is just a bit of advice from the front lines of a bad mood. Writing has helped a little...if only I could blog all day long :)

Cheers!

-A