Do you have a strategy for one of “those” days? I

Some great ideas. Personally I don’t like being tied to specific days. I’ve just given up voluntary work for this reason. I like to wake up and decide how I feel and do what suits me on that day. Isn’t that what retirement is about, just as well we’re all different or there’d be no volunteers doing good things.
I’m not entirely selfish and will use the time to visit or entertain but intend to please myself from now on.

Hairdresser, Opera Plus, Waitrose and coffee sounds like a good please yourself kind of day. Hope you enjoyed it.

Maw, had the same feelings myself for a good few days now. DH very ill waiting for an operation which was cancelled at very last minute recently. Seems all I do is worry. Don't have any answers, just to say you're not alone and I expect we all come out of the blues sooner or later

Dogs! It is impossible to feel down for too long with them about. They are always pleased to see you and encourage you to go out - I nearly always talk to someone when I take the dogs out and have actually made some friends that way. I don't know what I would have done without mine when my husband died, they were so comforting.

I fire up my sewing machine, Maw, and whir away. Do you have any practical/physical hobbies? Having a project ready to start, or continue is great for lifting your mood. You can get the prep done on your good days. I've really got into making and (the two haven't always followed...) actually wearing things. I completed a pair of trousers yesterday and wore them to go to the dentist. I was so pleased with them that I smiled all day. In the picture, I also made the little blouse out of an old duvet cover.

Oh! My photo didn't come!

Oh! It did come! ?

fairfraise

That last quote is quite true. I've just spent a happy hour trimming back hedge. Unfortunately the pruning saw my DH was using revealed a birds nest, so we stopped. Hope they're not too disturbed.

Please leave hedges alone from April to September. It's actually illegal to disturb bird nests.

Maw I often get those days. I try to go for a walk or go out in the car and sit by the sea. I’m fortunate that I have a good friend who can’t go out much and is happy to be visited for a cuppa and chat.

I think this must be a common feeling.I have it every morning and have done for donkeys years. A low grade background depression all day. I’ve used coping mechanisms since I was very young, and having been in and also a therapist I am convinced there is a root source, but have never found it.

Recently having some horrendous family news I have been unable to engage the coping strategies and have seized up mentally and am physically unwell. I have no trust in the medical profession in these instances (past experience) but have found a good homeopath with good knowledge who isn’t afraid of mental health issues is the way for me to go.

Sorry to say the “Cheerful Charlies” can really make things worse. Sometimes it’s OK to acknowledge that you feel c*r*a*p and may be knowing you are not the only person who does not see each day as a new adventure can be some sort of comfort.

I'm having one of those days today. I've taken the puppy for a walk (in her sling because she's not fully jabbed yet). Went to my husband's bench to present her to him (daft I know). Wanted to cry, but couldn't because I only had puppy pads with me!
I've made a cuppa from herbs from my garden, and before you all think I'm saintly, may I add, I'll be finishing off the chocolate with it!
I need to go out out, but not wanting to. Need a kick up the btm, but I don't think that of the OP. We're always harder on ourselves.

I've have had a West Highland terrier for the past 7 years. She is my reason to get out in the park every morning. Rain hail or sunshine , I've never missed a morning in 7 years. I loved it so much, I got a second Terrier 4 years ago. These 2 little dogs give me so much in joy, companionship and so many other things. I don't have " these so called bad days. No matter how bad I feel, going out before breakfast for me is the answer

Maw Glad you’re feeling a bit better. Gransnet is a great place to share and get support. Merlotgran ? . lizzypopbottle love your trousers and blouse- they used duvets last week on the Great British Sewing Bee reduce, reuse , recycle.

How do you feel today Maw?

I know the feeling of nobody to do nothing with. It’s almost like a rut or ebb you get stuck in and can’t shift.
I paint, draw or read to try and get myself in a better frame of mind but it doesn’t always work. Sometimes I think it’s better to go back to bed for a bit and try again later.
It’s bleak now but not forever, though it seems to be.
I’ll be thinking of you.

If I feel a bit down I try to do something which makes me feel good, something constructive such as a bit of sewing or knitting or maybe a little job in the garden like dead-heading or tackling the dandelions. Afterwards I can sit back and feel I've achieved something.

i do chi gong then meditate, if it does not shift then i say hello to it.I heard on radio4 recently that dancing is very good too.

I feel the same some days. It has been particularly bad this week. Not been so occupied. Do you think Maw we have been looking forward to coming out of lockdowns and actually it’s not as good as expected! Our expectations were too high. Just a thought. I am just about to have a shower and walk the dog. Lovely day here. I cancelled a coffee with a friend this afternoon didn’t seem to have the mental energy. So I understand totally but it does go. Perhaps trying to find something to look forward to?

I usually drink my breakfast coffee and then go and do some task I have been putting off FOR AGES because it was too depressing or too boring.

My logic is that I am down in the dumps right now, so sorting through old photos, turning out that cupboard or whatever else it is I have been successfully ignoring apart from that niggling little voice in my head for so long, is not going to make me feel any worse today.

Nine times out of ten, once the dreaded task is started I go on and finish it, and feel MUCH better when it is done, because even although it was one of those days, I have done something constructive.

On the tenth occasion, I stick it for half to three-quarters of an hour, and then if I really cannot make headway, I give it up. And go for a walk, or a bike ride, or take a nap.

I do get days like that. My way of dealing with them is to get lost in a good book, get outside and around people, play music or a good audible book, cook something, play the piano
I often wish I could paint or draw or was good at needlework, but no talent for those. An absorbing hobby must help.
Best wishes Maw. On those days you describe, you are not alone and starting a thread on here was a good move.

Beeb thanks for the positive comment. I find that keeping busy, with something I have to concentrate on i.e. for me it's sewing, rests my mind from my worries or sadness. Even a vague, undefined feeling, like Maw describes, can be eased if you have to pay close attention to what you're doing, rather than how you're feeling. Perhaps it'll come back when you take a break from your task, but the rest from it has to be beneficial.

I think you just have to go with the flow, really.
Sometimes it doesnt help to go places, do things, and so on.
Sometimes only the impossible would "fix" the those days, and anything else is just a temporary distraction.
Music usually cheers me a bit on "those days".

I think it's called displacement activity! Sometimes (I know this only too well) it's an aid to procrastination but sometimes it's a good distraction.

Lovely ?! You should be very proud! No wonder you kept smiling ?!!

Thanks for bringing up such an important matter.

Today was / is just one of those days for me. I didn't know which way to turn first thing this morning so I looked at a meditation video I have been using on bleak days. Not sure if I am allowed to mention which one ?

Only 3 minutes or so long and such a help.

I chose a word to keep in mind today and it's simply the word BREATHE because when I am uptight in body and mind I breathe very shallowly.

This too will pass is a good phrase to have in mind too. If it doesn't pass and you feel down most of the time see your doctor. There may be a medication that will help, or a counsellor in the practice you could speak to.

All the very best x

Thanks Netty21 I don't want to hijack Maw's thread but only to illustrate that, no matter what my mood is, I will smile when I wear something I've made.