I’ve been an emotional roller-coaster lately. Figuring out what direction to take my business and trying to finish school has definitely stirred up a lot of emotions. One day I’m excited for the future and the next I’m freaking out and fearful. I go from being crazy stressed and running around trying to get a million things done, to being completely burnt out and not wanting to get out of bed. And my poor family and friends have had to deal with my craziness the last few weeks. I’ve been unavailable, bitchy, moody, and clingy. It’s gotten to the point that when I wake up in the morning I don’t know what to expect myself. Is it happy Lauren today? Crazy Lauren? Burnt out Lauren? I’ve been doing my best to try and reel-in my emotions but most days I fail. Blame it on hormones or brain chemicals. Or maybe just the fact that I don’t know what my life is going to look like in 2 months, and for a control freak like me I don’t know handle uncertainty very well.

The other day I woke up depressed. Not burnt out really, just depressed. Feeling sorry for myself, feeling hopeless about the future, and just accepting that things are going to suck. And I thought you know what, I’m just going to stay here today. I’m not going to try to shake off this depression with my usual bag of tricks. I’m just going to go about my day feeling apathetic, isolated, and throwing myself a little pity party whenever I can. Now this emotional state didn’t feel good, but in a weird way it felt stable. Instead of going from high to low every other minute I would just hang out in a low phase for a while.

I went out for my normal morning run at the beach, and it happened to be gray and cloudy that day. I thought that’s perfect for my depressed mood. I was plugging along at a slow pace when the clouds started to clear and the sun came shining through. The more I ran the prettier it got outside. I began to notice how beautiful the sunrise sky looked, how perfect the weather was, and how peaceful the pelicans looked gliding overhead. Wait! I’m suppose to be depressed here! Damn sun looking so pretty…. I tried to get back to my sad place but thoughts of gratitude just kept creeping in my head. I can’t believe it’s 70 degrees in the winter, I’m so grateful that my body is healthy and can run….Shoot this run was really getting to me, I was having a hard time staying in my depressed state. I kept trying to remind myself of how shitty things were at the moment, but it wasn’t working. Oh wait is that a Rainbow in the distance? Yup its a rainbow, over the ocean, at sunrise… Well that did it, my depression was gone. I gave up, I was feeling happy and overwhelmed with gratitude. Stupid nature, ruining my bad mood. 

I had to laugh at myself later that day. Trying so hard to stay depressed and down when everything around me was beautiful and amazing. And I also realized that I learned a great technique to get out of a depressed state, go outside. Growing up when you were a kid and you were walking around the house bored and sulking, what did your parents say to you? “Go outside and play.” And it worked, every time. (I realize children today don’t do this any more, but back in the day before the internet, this is what kids did). If it worked so well as a kid, why did we stop doing it as an adult?

And this is why it works. When you change your environment you automatically change your state. Put yourself in a pretty environment and it’s hard to for the energy of that place to not have an effect on you. Plus you are moving. Whether you are walking, running, or biking, moving your body helps to release some of the negative energy. And if you are exercising you’ll get the added benefit of happy endorphins being released.

Now I know not everyone has access to a beach like I do in Florida. But every town has at least a park or some sort of jogging path in nature. When I lived in New York City I use to randomly just walk around the block whenever I was feeling down. I remember looking up at the buildings and everything I had access to and just feeling amazingly grateful. When I lived in NJ l loved to just take the dog and run around in the backyard playing fetch. All it takes is a 20 minutes stroll around your neighborhood consciously taking in all the sights around you for you to shift your mood. Look for the beautiful sites, the birds, the trees, the clouds… I guarantee you’ll find beauty all around you if you start to look for it.

Since that day I’ve gotten my butt outside for either sunrise or sunset every day. My emotions may still be all over the place, but when I get outside I’m brought back to a more happy neutral mind. I breathe deeper, clear my head, and leave feeling grateful. Right now my outdoor strolls are whats keeping me sane.

So if you are feeling a little stuck in life, depressed, frustrated, overwhelmed, etc.. take 20 minutes and get outside. If it’s cold where you live just bundle up. Just breathing in the fresh air will do you some good. Going outside may not solve all your problems but I guarantee that at least for a moment you’ll be feeling more peaceful and at ease with life.

Feel free to share your own mood shifters in the comments below.