Have you ever noticed that when you’re feeling a bit low, the last thing you want to do is reach out to someone?
When we feel good, we want to connect with the world around us
But when we don’t feel good, we often tend to isolate ourselves.
We might think we don’t want to spread our bad mood
Or that we just can’t deal with someone who’s in a good mood right now, we don’t want to be around people.
That’s understandable.
The problem is that connecting with other people is one of the best ways to start feeling better about things.
Author Arthur Brooks says that connection is like exercise:
The more you do it, the more you want to do it
But the less you do it, the less you want to do it
I think the trick with this is choosing your people well.
We all need someone in our lives that we can call when we’re having a bad day – and they won’t accidentally make us feel worse.
They won’t be too cheerful
They won’t demand that we engage in a conversation we’re not interested in
Perhaps they’ll just sit with us for a while
Or listen to us moan for the umpteenth time about the thing that’s getting us down.
The thing is: you might spend half an hour with that person today…
And then tomorrow, you feel a bit more able to engage with the world.
Connecting with the world around you really does get easier and more rewarding the more you do it
The problem is in taking that first step – when you’re feeling rubbish and don’t really want to connect with anyone.
Try making a rule for yourself: you can wallow in your misery for today, but tomorrow you do something about it.
And then, the next day, you call that friend. Even if you only chat for five minutes.
I’m not saying this sort of thing can magically cure society’s mental health issues
But perhaps it can help us all to feel a bit better over time
To feel a bit more connected to the world around us
And I believe this can help us all to raise our collective spirits
To bring more mental sunshine to everyone!
Try it today – challenge yourself to reach out and connect with someone, even if you don’t necessarily feel like it.