What a difference a day makes

Sometimes I seriously wonder if I have a mood disorder.

I can fluctuate between symptoms of anxiety and depression, and complete contentment, in what seems like an unreasonably short amount of time. Like the last 24 hours, for instance.

When I posted yesterday morning, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. I was anxious, antsy, unsettled, and generally confused. Today, it’s like I’m an entirely different human, in an entirely different universe, that’s been sprinkled with pixie dust and cupcakes.

I was energized reading Marc Brackett, Ph.D.’s “Permission to Feel” this morning, and was inspired by some of his content to do more research for the stress management class I’ve been building. When I took Rubes for a walk, we met a 9-week old puppy along the way, which inspired me to skip around the rest of the neighborhood.

The heaviness that was weighing me down yesterday has been replaced by lightness, and dare I even say, delight, today.

I could ask the same rhetorical question as I did yesterday, though, because this seemingly magical state is just as puzzling.

WTF is this?

I could try to analyze what might have caused this shift. Hormones? The weather? A better night’s sleep? Attending a pretty cool webinar yesterday with Daniel Goleman on Emotional Intelligence, followed by another inspiring team session from a mental health organization?

I could.

Or, I could simply take it for what it is, and not question the spring in my step. It’s true that if I don’t try to understand it, I may not know how to replicate it in the future. But if something I did or encountered yesterday subconsciously helped move me from distress to contentment, then maybe I already have the answer somewhere inside of me, and I can just practice trusting that I’ll be able to do it again the next time I’m in this situation.

So for now, I’ll just ride along with this feeling. And if anyone needs to borrow a little bit of it for themselves, I am more than happy to share.