Yesterday I nearly punched a runner.
He ran far to close me on a narrow path and his selfishness really got under my skin. Just like everyone else I am frightened at the moment and people who don't do their bit drive me crazy. So I shouted some rude words. As I continued my walk I thought about how we could increase people's awareness of social distancing. I thought about making everyone making wear hula hoops or we all carry brooms. I came up with the idea of this t-shirt although f I actually printed it I would use much ruder words or a reference to "Don't stand so close to me" by the band The Police. As I thought about my silly new design it reduced the fear and helped me calm down.
In this short series I have talked about small habits that can help make you feel a little better.
They will help you when you have a low moment in your day. Calling someone or doing something silly is are like little injections of happiness in this time of great uncertainty.
Today I just want to talk about one small habit that can make a big difference to how your day progresses. This is the 20 second feeling exercise. Think about times you have had different feelings remember how they felt for 20 seconds and then think of another one.
So if you notice you are feeling particularly low then try to accept it for 20 seconds and then think of a different one, like pride confusion excitement. There are many different feelings and these are just waiting for you to use them in your memory. By practicing the trick of remembering different feelings you can gain some control of them.
Remembering feelings is a great thing you can practice so here are a few feelings to work with.
1 The time you felt coldest and what it was like to get warm again?
2 The time you ate your most favourite meal...who were you with and where were you?
3 The time you were most hot....and thirsty.
4 The time you felt most scared and succeeded
5 The time you were most content.
Try this exercise once a day.
Don't forget to look at the other tips here