How to keep your mind off negative emotions or things to get better

I used to be good at keeping my mind off of bad stuff. As stress relivers, I could just conjure up some strategy game on the internet with some friends, win some battles and all the worries would go away. But now, no game tastes the same. I guess getting older does that to you :)

Now sometimes I go off wondering and worrying about stuff and cannot get it out of my mind, especially if it is something that pushes my buttons. Anyways, I searched for ways to beat up that "depression" state and I think you can increase your positive state if you share your ways with others.

So, what to do, to get rid of real negative emotions, worries, reenacting something bad that happened in your mind? Here are some methods that can help:

1. Count the darn sheep already. Stress and sleep problems go hand in hand, so sleeping helps recover from depression. If sheep don't help and you still cannot sleep, try counting backwards from 1000 by 7 increments. No good? Read something scientific/religious, or repeat the same word 1000 times. I can promise you that you will be more sleepy than ever, by the time you reach 300. You can also try methods like dimming/turning off the lights some time before you go to bed and establishing a ritual, thus conditioning your brain that it is bed time. If you give yourself some time and let yourself be with your own thoughts right before bed, you might have less worries when you lay down.
   
2. A lot of times, frustration roots from fears deep inside. If you can solve what scares you, you can deal with your fear and other negative emotions much better. So what if some fella is angry at you or does not like you? If you care, that means you value him/her. If you don't care about that person, you won't care what he/she thinks. A lot of times, we value what others think of us because a lot of us were raised like this by our parents. They gave us love when we did something they liked, or withdrew their love when we did something that displeased them. This type of behavior clearly conditions the child to care more about what others think of them.
   
3. Aerobic exercise helps, believe it or not. Do what you love and you will feel better before you finish off that cookie, as the oracle said to Neo in the matrix movie :) And, according to Men's Health magazine, you can fend of work stress by heavy breathing. Take a deep breath and see your stomach expand, let it out and do a couple more. Repeat this every hour because your body will start "chest breathing" when you are under stress. That may be good if you want to sing something nice or want to run away from that vicious dog, but it is bad for your stress levels and of course, weight. Chronic stress causes fat accumulation unless you start an exercise immediately when you are under stress. Controlling your breathing helps you control your heart rate as well, which is great.
   
4. A good music will do your body good (will decrease risk of cold), and will cheer you up in a few minutes. If you are breathing from your chest, you will sound pretty good musically so you may try to sing something yourself. You can also try to play an instrument, especially a drum or something you can hit :)
   
5. You have animals or kids? They have similar effects :) Pet them or love them.
6. If you can get on with a relaxing holiday, plan it or do it immediately.
7. Try to see the gray areas instead of seeing the World in black and white.
8. If something bad happened, like you argued with somebody, or your boss yelled at you, reenact the scene in your mind, but this time, think of the bad guy in a clown suit or in his/her underwear, or whatever makes the scene funny. Make his sound high pitch or low pitch, and then speed up the scene, like a director of a comedy. You will feel better instantly.
9. Start day dreaming again. It is better if the dreams are on the good side, opening up new possibilities for you and your soul. You can also busy up your mind with other occupying things like chess or other strategy games. They still work for me, though not as good as they used to be.
   
10. Get religion and start praying. I know what you are thinking, but even if you consider yourself an unbeliever, you can bet that there are things that you believe in. So, if you are praying to Superman, that's your business, but I say get on it. All research shows that believers live a fuller and happier lives.
11. If you have a friend you have not seen a while or have somebody that you rarely call, try to get with him/her and have a tea or coffee or something. Play a mini golf or do an activity, but do something together. If you are married or have a significant other, even better. Do something with him/her and I can promise you that you will enjoy it even though you don't feel like it now.
12. Depression lowers your libido, try to get back in the game even if it means pleasing yourself.
13. Drawing with color helps you to express your feelings.
14. Open up to someone who will not judge you, but simply listen to you. If you do not know somebody like that, tell somebody you know that you need someone that will not judge, or offer solutions, but listen. Expressing yourself like that will relieve your soul.
15. If you are a woman, you can start a diary or something, but as I understand it, that rarely works for man.
16. Write a hub or some other way to be beneficial to others, give to charity. It helps a lot.
17. Make a list of what you like doing during the day, and make more of it.
18. Get some action going. Trying to decide on what to do for too long may draw you more into depression. Start an action, don't just stand there. Once you start, it is much easier to finish.
19. Make a list of your problems that you think are putting negative emotions in your brain and make a list of solutions. Write pros and cons of each solution and pick the one with the most cons. If that does not work, go to the second solution and ACTION.
20. Prevent negative emotions when they are baby sparks and put them out, before they turn into large flames. It is a lot easier to do this when they are small. Recognize them and treat them like dirt :)
21. If it is the winter that creates problems for you, try to get a bright white light and stand in front of for half an hour. The winter woes and called the SAD syndrome (Seasonal Affecting Disorder), so it happens to a lot of people.
22. Think and imagine that all your problems are solved over night. How would you behave in your daily life? Behave like they are all solved magically, and they will be solved soon. Understand that you cannot change people, you can only change yourself and how you behave.
23. Have fun! Going out for coffee with co workers or other fellas is more effective in relaxing you and getting negative emotions out of your mind, compared to drinking your coffee alone. You should remember to get high Vitamin C drinks (lemonade, orange juice, parsley etc.) because this vitamin fights negative emotions.
24. If you are feeling real bad or tired at work, try dealing with your plants. Get the yellow leaves out, water it, take care of it, you can even talk to it :) If you grow aromatic herbs like mint etc., the smell will relax you.
    
25. If you feel like you made a mistake, don't let anybody back you into a tight corner. Accept that you made a mistake, and acknowledge it. Letting it go will feel good.
26. Research has shown that a lot people talk to themselves negatively. If you keep repeating positive words in your mind, you will feel a lot better about yourself. Even if those words come out without you thinking their meanings, they will still show their effects because your unconscious mind makes them real. For example, if you keep telling yourself that "I am smart, I am smart, I am relaxed, I am relaxed", you will be those things. If you believe everything happens for a good reason, and everybody on this Earth is there to improve you and make you and your life better, you will eliminate all source of stress. That sounds selfish at first, but if you believe that guy who yelled at you was mean because you were bad some time ago in an unrelated incident, then you won't feel the life is "unfair" and you will take it much better.
    
27. If you can predict what other people will do, before they do right before a bad storm, you can be prepared and you won't feel as bad. For example, if you wait a lot of yelling before your meeting with your boss, it will not be a surprise when you get that. If he/she is nice, that's a pleasant surprise :)
28. Some people have no shame and they will try to use you by continuously asking for favors and by refusing to take a no for an answer. If you are bummed out because you can't say no, tell the guy/gal you will do it later, and make it an undefined time frame. Then, if you have time, let's say two months or two years afterward the asking time, depending on the thing he/she asks for, call or talk to that person and tell him/her you will do it now. Of course it will be too late and they will be more hesitant asking you for things you don't wanna do and you can tell them "no" immediately.
29. If you have the means to buy an air conditioner, buy one that releases negative ions. The ions stimulates fresh air and decreases stress. Of course, you can always try fresh air in the woods or on the beach :) You can also try to go to a swimming pool routinely. Swimming lets lymphatic fluid to leave your body, which decreases stress and negative emotions.
30. If you decide to remain calm in a fight, you will be in control. If not, massage your ear lobes in circular motion afterward. Men's Health magazine states that this relieves personal stress because it moves tentorium membrane in your brain.