The 5 minute Pity Party

What you need to know about me, is that I am generally a pretty positive person.  But, when I “fall off the wagon”,  it’s best to run for cover instead of trying to cheer me up.  There is nothing that you can say or do to help.  Basically, I don’t want to be cheered up. 

But, I’m not one to dwell in my misery for very long.  I don’t like that at all.  So… when I feel blue, instead of trying to cheer myself up, I just allow 5 minutes to feel sorry for myself.  Crazy?   Why yes it is!  But, it works for me.  I found over the years when I tried to cheer myself up, I just stayed blue a little longer.  So, I decided that the best thing I could do was to just let it all out!  I  have a 5 minute pity party. NO ONE else is invited.  I just have it all by myself.  Why make everyone else miserable, right?  I’m just giving myself permission to validate my mood, accept that I feel sad about something, and then move on. 

The 5 minute pity party has been an integral part of my sanity (I use that term loosely-haha!).    But, let me tell you that being a mom, being a wife, being a business owner, being a sister, going through menopause, etc… all will give you headaches and heartaches sometimes.     And, sometimes, you may even feel sad for no reason that you can figure out.  And, when you dwell on it, you just let it snowball into a huge deal.  So… just give yourself a break, and feel sad for a minute or two, or five.   Then get over it, and move on.  Denying it only causes a huge blow up later on, and dwelling on it just makes everyone else miserable.  It’s no fun trying to cheer someone up that doesn’t want to be cheered up so why on God’s green earth would you expect someone else to do it for you?    It only makes sense to allow yourself a few minutes to accept the mood, deal with it, and move on to phase 2.  And phase 2 is the part where you automatically cheer yourself up because you realize that YOU don’t even buy into any of the stinking thinking that you just allowed to play out.  

Life's way too short to let a bad mood mess with you!  And it's way to short to share your bad mood with everybody else!  You know what?  I’ve found over the years that when I have my own little ‘pity party’, 5 minutes is all I can take of my sad self anyway!  So thank goodness I don't invite anyone else to THAT party!