The other day, life was going seemingly well. The girls and I were hanging out, running errands and getting things done for school.

We were having fun. Until we weren’t.

It’s particularly interesting how bad moods are like the stomach bug: they spread quickly and silently, and before you know it, everyone around you is infected.

I’m not exactly sure what happened, but all of the sudden, instead of three people enjoying the day, we became three people who were each in a bad mood. Things spiraled downhill quickly. Very quickly.  We were feeding off of each other.

I’m not sure why this happens.

I wish we had a reset button we could push when we felt ourselves getting grumpy. A button that would go off, make us aware of our mood, and help us take a ten minute timeout to collect our thoughts. Maybe then, we would be able to stop our bad mood from really taking over, like a germ, seeping into our system.

I tend to get into a bad mood when I need to eat. Unfortunately, most of the time I don’t notice I’m being snappish until someone I’m around points it out to me. It would be nice to be able to prevent myself from turning into an evil witch. That’s where that reset button would really come into play.

I also tend to feel the moods of those around me. If I’m around people who are negative, anxious, or stressed out, I can feel their energy, and it brings me down. The same holds true for people who are positive, calm, and relaxed.

I’ve learned this about myself over the years. There are certain people I don’t let myself spend too much time with anymore. Because, they bring me down. And who needs that? I want to be around people who make me feel good, and I try to spend as much time as possible with those people.

Figure out what triggers a bad mood for you, and try to stop it before it takes over. In addition, pay attention to how you feel when you’re around the people in your life, and spend time with those individuals  who put you in a good mood.

Life’s too short to spend time with grumpy people who bring you down. I’m just saying.

Find meaning each day,

Dara