How to Weather Stormy Moods

This year, winter is going out with a bang for us with yet another blizzard. So far, there’s more than a foot of the fresh white stuff and it’s still coming down. Schools are cancelled. Roads are closed. We are even prepared for extended power outages. 

While we can prepare for the effects of the storm, there’s nothing to be done about the storm itself. 

Storms come. Storms go.

Sure, we can fuel up the generator, stock up on essential food items, charge some batteries around the house, get extra hay out to the horses and cows, hook the snowblower on the tractor and have it poised, ready to blow its way out of the shop - but that’s about it. 

We just can’t do anything to about the storm.

Besides literal weather disturbances, life has a number of storms, doesn’t it. 

There are storms in life that are absolutely unavoidable. Challenges, loss, illnesses, failures, and eventually even death. 

Moods are yet another unavoidable type of storm that arise in life. 

There are “good moods” and there are “bad moods”.  

Good moods are pleasant. Like sunny days, we want all our moods to be good ones. We try to hold onto them. We try to keep them around. We try to manipulate ourselves and the world around us, hoping that they stick around this time. 

But just like the weather, our moods shift for unexplained reasons, regardless of how much effort we put in. Storms come. 

Bad moods come. 

Bad moods aren’t really “bad”, but they are uncomfortable and unpleasant. We try to avoid them, force them away, and fix them. 

But, like the weather, this just doesn’t work. 

Storms come. Storms go. 

But as helpless as we are in the face of a storm or in the grip of a bad mood, there are still things we can do, and things we can avoid, to make the storm a whole lot smoother. 

Prepare - Just like we charged our batteries and fuelled the generator, there are certain things you can do to prepare for the bad moods when they do arise. You can charge your inner battery, fuel your inner gas tanks, knowing that storms will come. By filling your inner reserves you can have the resilience to handle the storms of life and the bad moods with more serenity, self-compassion, care, and grace. Trying to “fix” the bad mood only makes it worse by adding more tension and negative emotions to the mix. Acceptance of the mood allows the mood to shift.

Hunker down - We can only wait for this storm to blow itself out. While I wait, I find myself doing quiet, cave-like activities like baking and studying. While you wait out your bad mood, it can help to shift your activities to ones more suitable to a bad mood. Look for quieter, more introverted activities if you can, seek solitude, prayer, and contemplation - not to “fix” your bad mood, but wait it out graciously. 

Define storm - In Canada, our definition of a snow storm is very different than in more southern climates. When a few flakes fall in the south, their world slides to a stop. When a few flakes fall in Canada, we laugh and pull out our shorts. Just as it might take more “storminess” to qualify as a literal storm, as you get more resilient, it will take more “storminess” for your mood to be classified as a “bad” one. 

Don’t watch the news - Good heavens, the hype before this storm was incredible. For the past two weeks we’ve been hearing on the news that this is going to be the storm of the century. Well - knock on wood - but it ain’t that bad yet. News, drama, and hype can make literal storms seem so much worse than they are, but they can also make your moods seem so much worse than they are, too. Try to avoid drama while you wait your bad mood out, and it won’t seem so bad. Avoid tough conversations, hard phone calls, extra challenges if you can until your mood shifts so that you don’t make anything worse.

Spring comes - Every single year, spring comes and melts the snow away. None of us use our will, or personal power to urge the snow away. A power much bigger than us does that, so there’s no use shovelling and snow-blowing our way to spring. Sometimes in a bad mood, you want to positive think, try, struggle, fix, and compel yourself into a better mood. It does’t work. All you can do is graciously hunker down, and know deep in your heart, that you aren’t broken - it’s just a storm - and faithfully wait for the spring that a higher power always guarantees will arrive.

So many folks have the misperception that we teach you how to have no more storms, no more bad moods. Sorry to burst your bubble, but that’s just not in the cards for this life. But, we can help you prepare for, and weather the storms that are an inevitable part of life. 

Ready to fuel up and charge your inner batteries? Are you wanting strategies to handle your storms? Check out our coaching options here.

Here’s to Conquering Stress.

With heart,

The Stress Experts