Apart from those of us who suffer from a diagnosed mental illness, our mood swings originate from our mind - our thoughts. Because of this it is possible to change your mood from negative to positive just by thinking about.
I was sceptical about this assertion just like some of you reading this post. Ha, change my mood by changing my thoughts, rubbish. "Walk a mile in my shoes and see what I have to put up with each day. You have no idea what it's like for me."
I have walked in your shoes and I do have an idea of what it is like for you. I will admit that some of us do have bigger shoes than others, more 'stuff' seems to happen to them than to others. But generally, we all go through times where our mood drops. And some of us drop a lot further than others. Know that the further you drop the harder it is to climb back out so prevention is the key.
For most of us the negative thoughts are in our heads, it's how we think about things. Here's a simple example. I bet that you have been somewhere where you would rather not be - in a boring meeting, stuck in a conversation that you are not enjoying, doing a job that is tiresome or monotonous. You feel low.
And then you think of something happy that is coming up. You suddenly remember that you are meeting with friends later that day, going to a concert, travelling somewhere, or maybe you simply remember that it is Friday. In a split-second your mood lifts. You feel much better and you may even breakout a smile.
So what happened around you to make you feel better? Nothing. There was other influencing factor. Your mood was uplifted by just changing your thoughts. And if you keep thinking these positive thoughts going, your brain will learn to look for more of them. I use to dismiss the saying "Think happy thoughts". Now I don't.
Positive psychology works on little tricks like this to help your brain. It is intuitive, you just need someone to show you how to switch it on.