Mood Swings!

 I know what you are thinking: mood swings are only for girls at a certain time of the month. In one way, this is true - menstruation does cause mood fluctuations. On the other hand, we ALL get mood swings - it's human.

There can be many reasons why our moods can bounce around the charts. First, we are leading difficult lives. One moment you are happy because you got a good mark, and the next second you are devastated because you have an upcoming test. One moment you are distressed because you have a problem at work, and the next second your smiling because of a funny joke.

Mood swings are difficult to handle. If your feeling great at first, feeling low the next second is devastating. It feels like the happiness is being swept out of your soul. And if you feel sad one minute and happy the next, it feels as though your problems have disappeared. Strange, isn't it?

But what's important is how we deal with these moments. Sometimes, I just want to scream because of my unstable mood. I'm frustrated how quickly life can change, and how these events impact my mood.

It may sound silly, but I've come to simply accept the mood swings. It's part of life, and I can't change that. But what I CAN change is how I react. I might hate that something turns my mood upside down, but I can attend to my emotions and realize that there are ways to deal with this. So, the next time I suddenly feel down after being happy, I'll remind myself of how joyful I was before. Of course, this might not always work - sometimes we just need to feel certain emotions. But making the effort to lighten your mood can be the difference between a good and a bad day.

I like a saying that empowers me daily: you often can't change the ACT, but you can change how you REACT. In other words, life throws us surprises - what's important is that you control whether or not you let those events take you down.

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