When you feel bad, listen to some jazz
I never felt more hopeless in my life. I had so many plans but couldn’t bring myself to do it. I didn’t know what stopped me? I just felt too tired to do anything. I tried to write, but the words didn’t seem right. I went to sleep only to find myself laden with more thoughts and weird dreams.
So I got out of bed and read again a blog post from Jeff Goins about overcoming writer’s block. I decided to pick one thing that came to my mind and do it right away, to see if it could help me get out of this devastating state.
There are many great tips, but I went for “listening to a song”. That was the only thing I could bring myself to do anyway. Jeff suggested tuning in for some jazz or classics. I’m not sure what jazz is (Sorry if my poor music knowledge offends you), so I opened Youtube and typed in the best jazz songs of all time. Then I stumbled upon this old song “What a beautiful world”. I’ve heard of it once in the movie “The mysterious island”.
But this time I heard it from Louis Armstrong. Gosh, I’ve never listened to something filled with more positivity. I closed my eyes and pictured the scenes from the lyrics and suddenly I felt so good. All my troubles went away. My vitality returned. I felt so much good in life waiting for me. I felt pumped up to write, though I was not sure what to write yet.
I listened to the whole song with the utmost attention. When it ended, I spotted another version where Louis sang with a bang, so I clicked and listened again. That was my first time seeing Louis Armstrong, but my heart was overflowing with optimism. He sang with a beautiful smile on his face. I don’t know how he managed to keep that smile (big fat toothy one) at all times while singing. It touched me so much.
And I wondered why my life has to be so much pain when the world is filled with wonders? Since when have all the positive feelings been erased from me? I couldn’t smile without being satire?
That moment I saw Louis Armstrong’s toothy smile as he sang, one strange thought crossed my mind: Everything is emotion.
Yes, if you really think about it, everything is emotion. Or rather how you react to everything is emotion. Overworking leaves you dreary. A distant friend makes you feel abandoned. Lack of money makes you doubt yourself. Getting stuck at a dead-end job makes you feel hopeless and uninspired. It’s all about feelings.
If I react to everything emotionally, then I do have a choice, right? A choice to be upset or happy. Of course, you can’t predict what life throws at you but you can choose to feel good or bad about it.
Recently, I suffered a complete burnout. I guess it mainly comes from my sedentary lifestyle; go to the office, sit in front of the screen for hours, then go home with more screen time. I also sleep pretty late. Mostly watching Youtube videos until my eyelids dropped. I don’t know why I do that. I just feel that the day ends too soon and I haven’t accomplished anything yet. I need to do something before going to sleep to forget the fact that I’ve wasted my day.
So much was written about how to be in a good mood. But in the end, I think it only comes down to two things: a healthy mind and a healthy body.
To have a healthy mind, you have to control your emotions. No matter what life throws at you, you always have a choice of how you’re going to react to be. I know a quote phrasing this so perfectly: “No one can hurt you without your permission”.
But that is not all, to feel good, you need to keep your mind relaxed. Listen to a good song. Try some jazz and classics. Avoid sad songs. They do make you moody. And do keep a smile on your face. Life is fun. Tomorrow is just another day. What can be so bad about it? You’ve done something stupid at the office? Laugh it off. Your colleagues will soon forget about it the moment they get home. People don’t care much about you as you think they do. Why should they? They’re the lead role in their own stories. Why on earth should they pay attention to you, a side-cast?
A healthy mind fills you with great motives and ideas, but it is all for nothing without a healthy body. To be in a good physical state, do something to get your blood flow every day. I don’t care if you drag your butt out of the house just to walk a few steps or do five jumping jacks on your bed. You gotta do it. Otherwise, you’ll never accomplish anything you set out to do.
Cheers to you, my tired friends. Hope you have a wonderful day.
