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Project 1&2
ELEVATOR RIDE
For the two mood lifting activities I chose to do them after a hard stressful day of work and the other when I was felling burned out on homework.
For the first activity after a stressful day at work, I went back to my apartment and sat down to play my video games, which usually work to calm me down and get me in a more relaxed mood. How ever on this particular day the video games did not work so I decided to try my fall back activity for when the video games don’t work, which is to listen to music. When I listen to music to come down I listen to a lot of upbeat good felling oldies. After about a half hour of listening to this music I was dancing around and felt to be in a less stressful mood, not quite ecstatic but not as stressed out, so it was mood lifting.
For the second mood lifting activity that I implemented during a burn out on homework I called a couple of my friends and got a group together to play monopoly. It worked out great because they to were felling burned out and wanted something to do. While playing monopoly we had a lot of fun we were joking around and talking about what each one of us was up to lately, for a few of us it was the first time we saw each other in 3 months due to our schedules, so it was a good time for us all to get together. Te change form doing something that was depleting us cognitively to something that allowed us let lose and do something fun allowed at least me to get back to doing my homework and allowed me to complete it rather effortlessly.
For the activity to lower my rumination, I decided to acknowledge the thoughts and to acknowledge where they were coming from, but to know that these thoughts were not true. After the acknowledgement I combated those thoughts with more positive thoughts that I knew to be true, such as listing all the things that I am good at when I failed at something and had the though that I am not good at anything, even thought I knew that I was good at a lot of things. This didn’t stop the self talk but it allowed me to deal with it in a positive manor.
For the activity to low the cognitive process I tried meditation. I played a low drum beat music in the background and I lit some sage incenses, the only ones I had laying around, sat on the floor crossed legged. For the next hour I focused on my breath and just let all my thoughts fly out of my mind with out focusing on them. After this meditation I felt really relaxed cognitively, but had a pain in my lower back from sitting that way. However I was relaxed and felt a lot better.
DO UNTO OTHERSBefore doing this project I didn’t know what I was going to do. I thought about a lot of things that I could do, like helping my roommate learn to paint but then I thought that I myself am not that great at it. Then I thought that I could teach my brother how to knit, which is something that he would like to lean, but then I thought that I don’t have the patience for that I have tried to teach him before but got really frustrated with it. Then I was hanging out with a friend one day and she wanted to talk about something that was bothering her and then I remembered that one of the things that we could do for this project was to listen to others.
After listening to her talk about what was bothering her she asked for my advice on what she should do so we spent the next couple of days, off and on, about possible solutions to her problem. When we were finaly able to come to a workable solution I felt really good about being able to help her with her problems, it felt good because I have a hard time dealing with my own problems and when I was able to help her it made me think that I could find solutions to my problems if I tried harder next time.
A couple of days later she called me to let me know how things turned out and it made me fell really good about being able to help her, and to know that I could really help someone when I had trouble helping myself. Doing this project made me what to more things for others.
Steven,
When I listen to music I often find myself in a much better mood. Of course the degree of uplift I experience often depends on the quality of what I listen to. Hopefully music’s ability to positively effect emotional states will become a technique we see used more and more.
I can relate to the stresses of feeling overworked, it sounds like you have a good network of social support to call on when needed. One of the great thing about getting together with friends is the mutual benefit from the interactions.
It’s interesting how opportunities arise to help others if only we pay attention to them. Listening to your friend and helping with a problem sounded like it was truly comforting and restorative for both of you. Perhaps reflecting on your success(es) with solution finding will help mitigate some of the negative self talk you mentioned you were experiencing.
Hi Steven,
What a great idea to play board games! It’s been way to long since I played! Isn’t it amazing how much time passes that way? I can relate to your story about listening to a friend of yours. It is hard to feel that you are helping someone when you too are having a tough time, but it’s also really awesome to know that you are not alone. Most of my best chats with friends, most memorable at least have been as a result of my hard time or theirs. I have also learned a lot about myself in the process, sounds like you did too.
Steven,
What a great idea to have a back-up plan when you want to improve your mood – especially when you have your options laid out before a stressful situation occurs. It’s easy to let negative emotions get the best of you and make you believe that no matter what you do, nothing will work. Your post helped me remember that what makes people happy today won’t always make them happy tomorrow. I’m glad you found something that worked for you – music can be so powerful the way it touches your heart, bring back memories, or just make you want to dance.
I also spent some time listening to a friend for my “Do Unto Others” activity. It made me realize how helpful the simple act of listening can be – whether you’re actively giving advice or just a shoulder to cry on. I think listening is one of the most important things you can do to strengthen a relationship.
~Chelsea