Bubbles of excitement

We were chatting over coffee, Diana* and I, and it was clear she was struggling. The new job was turning out to be less than the change than she was searching for. She’d been arguing a lot with her partner about issues big and little. Her mom had been ill for a while and was showing no signs of permanent, full recovery. Things were shit, is how she felt.

I’ve been there. Man, have I. That feeling like nothing is going well. You can’t catch a break and one after another, life is piling it on. It doesn’t take long before you feel buried. Distraught. Weighed down. Burdened. Your shoulders physically droop.

I was fresh that day. I was still high on the thrill and momentum created by the altMBA program I’d completed. I was managing my job better, while planning my strategic exit. I was possibly in the midst of my daily blogging habit; and ideas and energy were flowing for me.

You need a little something outside of all this madness that will create moments of happiness for you, I told her. Something you can look forward to that will take your mind off the negative happenings. When you can create happiness in even one small area of your life, it can shift your mindset and carry over to other aspects. It can flip a switch in your brain from negativity to more positive thinking. I know because it happened to me.

You need a bubble of excitement, I told her. And I need it, too.

• Diana is not her real name. Names have been changed to protect the grumpy and uninspired.