From yesterdays post you might have been able to tell I was having a bit of a down day. We all have off days where we're either feeling a little sad, sensitive or even angry, so after having a day like that yesterday I thought I would address how I go about coming out of the sad mist, and prevent myself from heading down a downward spiral of unhappiness, as life doesn't always turn out as planned and can therefore sometimes feel quite disappointed, to say the least.

First off I want to say I think sometimes it is quite important to let ourselves feel sad (or angry, or hurt, whatever negative emotion you might be feeling), it's a human emotion and I like to think there is a reason we sometimes feel sad. Of course, I only mean to a certain extent, it is no good feeling sorry for yourself (I'm a bit of a hypocrite I admit I have previously been guilty of this), but sometimes we need to cry. Emotions can get too much and they're not used in letting to build up to an extent you feel like you and going to explode - as I'm sure you might think you did a good job of hiding all these emotions but your friends may notice your slightly shorter fuse, you may also explode with emotion at the wrong time, wrong place, and around the wrong people. You get my point, right? Be sad if you need to be, if you feel sad. Don't feel sad for the sake of feeling sad.

Once you've felt sad, maybe had a bit of a cry and all these emotions swirling around in your mess of a head seem to have dissolved or settled in some small way then it's time to pick yourself up, brush yourself off, wipe away your tears and then, what?

I think if you have just had a bit of an emotional break down, you might be feeling okay now it's over, but it's a clear sign things have been getting on top of you and you need to take some time out, otherwise I feel the next little breakdown may come a little sooner than you would like.

It doesn't necessarily have to be a long time out, it can literally be an hour or so - just some time to refresh your head.

Here are some little things I like to do during this time:

  • Spend time with family - despite living with my family I do not feel I actually spend much time with them, as I live with them I don't tend to make time for them like an I do friends, and I definitely do not appreciate them enough. Today I had the perfect girly day of shopping, cooking and not really doing much with my mum, and it felt like exactly what I needed.
  • Have an internet break - I admit I'm guilty of not doing this often enough, however you will find it can be quite refreshing to step back from my blog, twitter and instagram for a while.
  • Catch up with my favourite youtube videos - This one totally contradicts the last, but we don't have to do them all at once, right? It doesn't require much thought, you might learn something, it might make you laugh, and it just allows you to get lost in someone else life when yours is feeling too much
  • Read - I am a massive bookworm, I love reading. There's nothing like a good book to make me forget my problems and chill out. As with the youtube videos reading allows you to get lost in somebody else's life, which is always nice. 
  • Get out your sketchbook - Since finishing University I have hardly drawn, despite it being a favourite hobby of mine, it's definitely something I want to get back into. When in the right mood I find drawing can be very therapeutic, plus you might create something worth keeping.
  • Have a bath and a face mask - these might come hand in hand with the reading and youtube videos, there's nothing like a bath with your favourite bath products when you need to wind down
  • Exercise - It is good for your body and mind, why not?
  • Crochet/knit - I've recently been learning hand knit and crochet and now I've got into the swing of it I have to say, it's quite a nice little activity to do when you want to chill.
So these are just some ideas of bit I like to do to relax post meltdown before getting back into my usual routine. How do you unwind when things are getting a bit much?

Love Chloe
xx