Who loves a cactus?

Feeling grouchy.  In a bad mood.  In a funk.   Cantankerous.  It’s been me in the past few days.  I cheered up eventually and started thinking about what happened the my usual cheery self.

We all have to deal with bad stuff.  Bad news, difficult tasks with difficult people, and disappointments all add up.  And sometimes we just plain wake up grumpy.

What’s the problem with us on these days? Who’s going to like us when we’re being a thorny bugger?  Why do we just sometimes feel a bit like a prickly cactus?

We’re tired out. Being tired is a sure fire way to make you unhappy.  There’s nothing like waking up feeling like you haven’t slept a wink and with a big day in front of you.  Work on getting more sleep, and you’ll have a bit more pep!  The ABC have some great sleep facts which should encourage you to have a snooze more often, including this little doozy: the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, the Challenger space shuttle disaster and the Chernobyl nuclear accident have all been attributed to human errors in which sleep-deprivation played a role.

Unfinished business. Feel like you’ve got a lot on that you just must do otherwise your world will crumble down?  Chances are slim.  Remind yourself that you can’t do everything, things can be put off, and that when you die there will still be things left that you haven’t done.  In the mean time, try living a little and doing stuff you want.  A bit flippant perhaps – but why do we convince ourselves that everything must be just so without concentrating on what really matters?

You forget the real world and expect life to be fair.  We make mistakes, we feel sorry for ourselves; we wallow. The funny thing is that the moment you realise that life isn’t fair and and that things don’t always work out the way they should, you stop feeling resentful and start smiling. Bring it on.

Lower Stress: Instead of forcing yourself to bathe in a hot bath of stress, which is bad for just about everything, lower your tolerance to it.  Avoid it, delegate it, try to stop getting into those situations.  If that’s not possible, for example because your job that you love is stressful, work on releasing stress  – and not by throwing stuff out the window!  Some people are into yoga and meditation.  Others just like to go and have a laugh with mates at the end of a week.  Don’t just sit there  Improve your stress-coping skills and you won’t wake up like a bear with a headache.

Choose Your Battles: Arguing with everyone is sure to make you more grumpy, not less.   Sometimes you need to stick it to someone when they are giving it to you themselves. But sometimes we are just disagreeable and want to aggravate everyone.  Choose your battles wisely, you’ll be far more effective in winning those that are truly important.

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