Thursday, October 25, 2012

15 Ways to Get Out of a Funk

I often find myself in a rut. Sometimes it lasts an hour or two, and sometimes it lasts a week or two. If you find yourself down in the dumps, just remember that it will pass. Here are some of the things that I do to help cheer me up and lift my spirits.

1. Have a nice bath before bed. And crawl into clean sheets. It's the best feeling! And you just feel so relaxed.

2. Get dressed up. I'm not saying put on a ball gown here. But do your make up or your hair, put on something other than sweat pants. It'll make you feel like doing more than sitting on the couch all day.

3. Call up a friend! Hang out with someone that you can have fun with. This is probably the best way to make yourself feel better.

4. Write. Get out your journal or, start a journal, and write what you're feeling. It is a great way to release some tension.

5. Have an early night. Go to bed early and get a solid nights sleep! You will feel so much better in the morning.

6. Listen to music. Get out your mp3 player and turn on your favourite song, and dance too!

7. Exercise! This is probably the hardest thing to do when you're feeling down, but one of the most important. Even if it's just a 15 minute walk, it will help.

8. Clean. It's amazing how our environment effects our mood. If you are sitting in a mess of a room than you are not going to be very motivated to do anything. Take 10 or 15 minutes and to a quick tidy. You'll feel a lot better.

9. Read some inspirational quotes. These always help me, here are some of my favourites.

10. Meditate. You'd be amazed at how much meditation can help. Give it a try!

11. Try something new. A change in routine might be exactly what you need to get you out of this rut.

12. Take it one day at a time. Realize that, chances are, nothing is going to come along and magically make you feel better. You have to get yourself out of this one.

13. Stay positive! I know it can be difficult to stay positive in these situations, but if you let yourself become pessimistic you will become even more destructive.

14. Focus on the present. Don't obsess over what you did or didn't do yesterday and don't put things off until tomorrow. There's no time like the present.

15. Laugh! Laughter truly is the best medicine. Start laughing and will feel better in no time!

Monday, October 1, 2012

A Clockwork Orange

A friend of mine told me that his favourite book ever was A Clockwork Orange written by Anthony Burgess, so I decided to give it a shot. I finished it a few weeks ago and I've thought about it a lot. And I still can't decide what I think about it.

It is a dystopian novel, set in future London. It follows the story of a boy, Alex, in three parts. The first part is about him and his "droogs" basically beating people up and what not. He then gets caught by the police. The second part follow his time in jail two year later. Where he finds out about a new therapy that turns felons into good people. He then goes through the extremely unethical therapy and turns "good." The third part is after he has been released into the world a changed man. He ends up running into some old "friends" and things don't go so well for him.

What I liked most about the book was the last chapter. Which, if you've seen the movie, you won't know anything about because they cut it out. But he really does change and grows up.

I really don't know what else to say, it was a very thought provoking book. It makes you think about how important ethics really are.

I would definitely recommend this book. The character of Alex is a very interesting one. Although, the language can be difficult to understand at first, the author uses a lot of slang. However, you do get the hang of it after a while.