I’m a pretty moody person who tends to fluctuate from one extreme to the other.  I’ve noticed it particularly this past couple years while I’ve been working a more-or-less 9-5 job for the first time in my life.

I’ve noticed that some days at work I feel so positive, so upbeat, so optimistic, like everything is possible, everything is awesome and I wouldn’t change a damn thing about my life in that moment.

And then other days things are not quite so cheery.  I’m at work and my job sucks, my life’s going nowhere and everything is dull, depressing and, worse, it’ll stay this way forever!

In those moods, I droop with despair and plod through the daily motions weighed down by defeat.  It seems clear that if only I could make some radical change (move to Paris, win the lotto, become a best-selling author etc etc) then I wouldn’t have to feel this way ever again.

Clearly the outside situation is the problem.

Except, here’s the thing:

Clearly the outside situation is not the problem…

Despite the fact that I live in Cork not Paris, can’t afford to rent my own home (never mind buy one) and my “best-selling book” doesn’t even have a name yet, I have many days and weeks when I’m incredibly content and at peace with things just as they are.

I’m always hopeful that they’ll improve (it would be really really nice to be financially independent again for example) but on my good days, I’m totally ok with the way they are, for now.

My rambling point is this: throughout all the moodiness, my external world remains relatively stable and unchanged, whether it’s a good day or a bad one.

Which means I don’t need to move country or buy lottery tickets in order to be happy, I just need to find a way to bring clarity and understanding to the moody one when she’s around.

And today I realized an important way to do it, something I like to call ‘naturcize’.  It’s when you get a bit of those happy chemicals flowing through your blood-stream while simultaneously ambling over the soft grassy earth, surrounded by hills, trees and furry little creatures.

Realizing at 4 pm today that crankiness was fast setting in after too many hours researching Google AdWords and gift packaging online, I grabbed the dog leads, put on my wellies and headed off up the nearby hills through farmland, up dirt tracks, climbing steep hills that got my heart-rate up a gear or two.

Small bunnies scurried away from us, their little tails flashing white as they bounded to their burrows; blackbirds chirped their little hearts out and meanwhile the biting wind stung my face as it sang its way through the trees.

The exercize released a whole load of endorphins but the fact that it was done while reconnecting to the natural soft sounds and scents of nature meant that it also brought a profound feeling of contented calm to my otherwise noisy and chaotic internal world.

I returned home a relaxed happy camper.  No gym fees, no therapy fees and only 30 minutes from start to finish.

It won’t solve all your problems and sometimes you just might not have the time or the accessibilty to be able to do it, I know.

But if there’s one guaranteed way to beat at least a few of the blues and do something really positive for your physical health as well, then (and I mean this in the nicest possible way) “go take a hike.”

Ciao darlings!

Lizzie xxxx