Five Ways to Life Yourself Up When You are Feeling Stuck & Down in the Dumps

I consider myself to be a fairly positive person and I love to laugh and smile a lot. However, I am also human and there are times, especially those heartbreaking days after a loss, where I feel anywhere from broken to downright depressed.

I used to think I had to wait until that feeling passed until I could be happy again - that I had to struggle with the sadness and depression until someone or something decided I could be happy.

What I know now is nothing could be further from the truth. That is because you and I have the emotional resourcefulness available to us to shift from how we are feeling to how we want to feel.

Here are a few of the things I am doing, right now, to pick me up when I am down, and help me feel how I want to feel: 

1.) Compliment myself - when I feel down I can go into a negative self-talk. Forcing myself to compliment myself, even if I have to acknowledge myself for picking my dirty underwear up off the floor, can make a really profound shift. It helps me wade through the emotional mud.

2.) Exercise - without fail exercise, and eating healthy, has been at the forefront of my healing process as it has been essential in helping me cope with some of the overwhelming pain that comes with loss. Whenever I need to snap out of a "less than ideal emotional state," I do my best to eat healthy 80-90% of the time (the other 10-20% is for fun) and exercise 5 - 6 days a week doing a combination of weight training and cardiovascular conditioning.

3.) Laugh - laughter, as they say, can cure all and it really does wonders to help you make changes, very fast. When I need a good laugh, I hop over to Youtube and pull up some videos I know will warm my heart with laughter. (Note: I encourage you to build a funny video playlist on Youtube so you have easy access to your resources).

4.) Practice Gratitude - conceptually I got it, but it wasn't until I started doing it that I really experienced the profound emotional shift that came when I began to focus on gratitude daily. Every morning I spend a few minutes reciting as many things as I can think of that I am grateful for. If the weather is nice, I will do this outdoors. Nature seems to add a little extra emotional energy to the experience. (I share a daily gratitude post on my Instagram account. Be sure to follow me there and share what you are grateful for).

5.) Connect with positive people - it has been scientifically proven that we are all omitting a certain energy field and that we pick up on the energy of others. It has also been said we are the average of the 5 people we surround ourselves with the most often. Want to feel happier, more inspired, more fulfilled, then surround yourself with people who radiate those emotions. As soon as I connect with others that lift me up, I immediately feel uplifted and I bet you will too! (This is, in part, why I created the Moving Forward Group, so that we could surround ourselves with like-minded people who are wanting to heal and move forward from their loss).

I hope this email was helpful to you. Give the above five a try and let me know how they work for you.

Carpe Diem,

Jesse

http://www.jessebrisendine.com 

Montecito Mudslides Resources

Santa Barbara, Montecito, Carpinteria, Summerland, Ojai Friends:

Here is a list of local resources I've heard of that offering free/reduced rate services to the local community. (Note: I just reposting what i've read and reciting what I recall hearing. Please confirm directly with the individual/organization/business)

If you know of any others, please post it in the comments and I'll update this as more come in. Additionally I'll copy all of these over onto my blog and include the link below if you want a url you can share.

Good Fund Me Pages supporting victims families:

* The family of Martín Cabrera Munoz: https://www.gofundme.com/services-for-our-brother

* The owner Rose Cafe: https://www.gofundme.com/rose-cafemontecito-mudslide-loss

* The McManigal family: https://www.gofundme.com/qmv424-the-mcmanigal-family

* The Sutthithepa family: https://www.gofundme.com/pinitsooms-family-recovery-fund

* The Cantin family: https://www.gofundme.com/cantinfamilyfund

* Carie Baker: https://www.gofundme.com/carie-baker-fund

Food:

* Foodbank of Santa Barbara is providing food to all who've been evacuated. They are also in need of donations to continue to do this.

* Free meal for all evacuees in public exclusion zone & first responders 12pm to 8pm Sun & Mon at Santa Barbara Public Market

*

+ Counseling/Support

* Hospice of Santa Barbara has open doors 9am to 5pm as a community gathering space with counselors on sight

* I am offering my services, free of charge, to friends and family who have been affected by this tragedy.

+ Animal Services:

* Humane Society

* Earl Warren Showgrounds are housing pets

* Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network is urging people to contact them if they encounter displaced snakes on beaches

+ Health/Wellness:

* Barre3 is offering free classes

* Walter Claudio Studio is offering a wash + blowdry and opening up their space for other professionals to use who are unable to access their businesses

+ Shelter:

Santa Barbara Independent has compiled a list of local hotels offering reduced rates at this link:

https://www.independent.com/documents/2018/jan/09/montecito-mudslide-evacuee-hotel-special-pricing/

RedCross has an evacuation shelter set up at

+ Transportation:

* Above All Aviation providing free flights to emergency personnel

* Amtrak is adding more cars to their train service

* Ferry from Santa Barbara to Ventura

+ Fun & Recreation

* Zodo's is offering free bowling for all the 93108 zip code + Community Events * An event tomorrow at Impact HUB in SB 11-3 for people who have been evacuated from the mudslides. Yoga, meditation, music and delicious food ... https://www.facebook.com/events/1828712864087069/ * Candlelight Vigil at The Santa Barbara Courthouse on Sunday at 5pm

+ Organizations to donate to that are providing support:

* Direct Relief

* The Red Cross

* The Unity Shoppe With love, Jesse