Jun 12, 2012 Dec 3, 2025 2012-06-12

2025 Update: since I published this post, I explored many other ways to feel better. Each item has been updated with a link to more recent and enticing content. Enjoy!

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Every once in a while I feel the urge of writing one of these huge lists. The last one was written almost a year ago, so you can understand my eagerness. But I can’t write something that big without a very specific topic, preferably one that I usually enjoy. So, since feeling well was one of my top priorities in the last year, I thought that would be a good candidate.

Without further ado, let’s start it:

1. Exercise

They’re called endorphins, and they are a reaction of the brain to the extra effort you put in when you’re working your body really hard. It’s like saying to your body: “I know you’re going through some pain, here, take something to fell better”. Works every time. [ if you do it every morning, it might be even better ]

2. Run Outside

I don’t really know what it is about running, but it always refreshes me, even when I’m so tired afterwards that my knees are trembling. Doing it outside is also one key factor of all this well-being sensation, if I run on the platform it’s a completely different story. I suspect it’s because all the people that I meet outside. 😉 [ if you keep doing it, you may end up finishing an ultramarathon ]

3. Put On Some Music

I think music works like a vibrational channel that puts our souls in direct contact with higher spheres. But that’s just me. You might enjoy putting on music simply because you absolutely love that tune—you know what I mean? Fair enough. As long as it makes you feel better. 🙂 [ at a certain level, music is deeply woven in the fabric of our lives ]

4. Talk To A Friend

We usually do this when we feel bad (turning our friends into emotional dumpsters, that is). Skip that. Just talk to a friend for no reason. Call him or her just to see how’s the weather down there, what’s the deal with their love life, or how’s gonna be the next trip. Casual chat. It’s useful, sometimes. [ sometimes, coffee and conversations is all you need ]

5. Finish Something You Started

Yeah, I know it’s difficult. It’s always far better to just start something new. But here’s the catch: in order to feel better, you don’t have to finish a ginarmous task each and every day. Do small bites, but do each of them until you finish the whole bloody thing. It’s from the small things that great stuff is born. [try this: start every Monday with a maximum of 3 main tasks ]

6. Start Something New

Like a habit, for instance. Or just painting the kitchen. Crafting a new table or a chair. Just start something from scratch. Shifting focus to something that you’ll have to finish sometime, versus your current (allegedly boring) reality, will create a positive tension. And positive it’s good. Even if it’s tension, if it’s positive, it’s good. [ try to detach from the reward also, just do it cause it’s interesting ]

7. Read A Book

It’s that rectangular thing made of perfectly aligned sheets of paper, with familiar black signs on them. They’re called letters. Seriously, can you remember when was the last time you read a book? You may not remember the title or plot, but you will remember that you felt good while you read it. [ start by browsing the few book reviews on this blog ]

8. Take A Walk

Slowly, outside, in the park or on the busy streets. I love to walk slowly on busy streets and watch the shapes of the buildings changing as I approach them. It helps tremendously to switch the focus from my own tiny problems. The end result: I feel better. 🙂 [ you not know this, but I used to take a daily stroll to the end of the world ]

9. Watch A Nice Movie

Visual stories are like drugs for many of us. Yours truly included. A good movie will always lift me up, drag me along into the deepest corners of adventures, then free me to this world again, as a better person. A nice movie will do almost the same. [ again, there are few nice movie reviews here too ]

10. Consume Some Art

Yeah, I’m talking about picture, or sculpture, or, if you’re more of an urban style, architecture or design. Harmony, contrast and colors, these are a few of my favorite things (for conformity, the last words are a partial quote from a very famous movie, I just couldn’t refrain from doing it). [ on a side note, there are many types of art, for instance: the fine art of not believing the lies you’re telling to yourself ]

11. Play A Game

Nope, not on the computer. Outside of the computer. Yes, there are games outside of the computer. Yes, I’m serious. Hide and seek, for instance. Or throw and catch. Just engage with somebody else for the sake of interaction. Games are the natural realm of kids. Ever wondered why kids are always feeling good? [ board games are allowed – CashFlow is a great starting point ]

12. Meditate

Now that’s serious. Try to master some form of meditation and then practice, practice, practice. As a matter of fact, among all of my friends who have done some form of a meditation, I could barely find a few having sadness episodes, and those episodes were really short. Meditations calms the mind. And, believe it or not, pretty much all of your misery is in your mind only. [ if you’re more of the geek type, here’s a simple tip: meditation is like debugging spaghetti code ]

13. Clean Up Your Desk

Or your house, or your work space, or your clothes. Cleaning up is so underrated. We delegated this very intimate task on so many levels, whereas, instead, we should take care of it ourselves in every tiny aspect. Cleaning up means revival, rebirth, starting afresh. [ and new beginnings are important, but honest endings are importanter (pun intended) ]

14. Do Some Gardening

Or take care of your flowers, if you have some. Trees and flowers are alive, just like us. They only live on a different level. And every time you sync your current level with their level, you gain balance, calm and serenity. Have you ever see two trees arguing? Me neither. [ if you don’t have a garden, try some hiking ]

15. Take A Joyride

By car or by bus. Or by bicycle. Or go out roller-skating. The thing here is not to plan your short trip in advance and focus only on the landscape and not on the arrival. You’ll arrive at some point anyway, so you’d better enjoy whatever looks enjoyable around. Easier done than said, believe me. [ for example, traveling with a guitar can be unexpectedly interesting ]

16. Write In Your Journal

Most of the time, the real reason for our stress is our own inability to properly process all our mental garbage. One of the easiest ways to safely take it out is to have a journal. Just sit down and write everything that crosses your mind in that journal. I usually feel better after less than 10 minutes of emptying out my mental recycle bin. [ on the same level, blogging can be similarly useful – I did it once for 365 days straight ]

17. Read Jokes

I started to intentionally search for jokes while I’m working. Humor is such an incredibly human quality and so hard to explain, if you really take the time to think at it. Animals can’t laugh (and don’t get me started with the funny cat pictures). But we, humans, we can laugh. So, finding some nice jokes and enjoying them is one of the cheapest ways to instantly feel better. [ spoiler, the best results I get when I laugh at myself ]

18. Craft A Toy

Usually, I do paper planes. Sometimes I do frogs. I learned this trick from my kids. It’s so easy to take something as dull as a paper sheet and then turn it into something that you can use for playing. It takes only a few seconds and it instantly making me feel lighter and more relaxed. [ sometimes, going to a flea market has the same effect ]

19. Pay A Bill

This may have mixed results, but, usually, it works. Every time I pay a bill I have a real feeling of relief. Looking at your bills like being chores will eventually make your entire life looking like a chore. Because, like it or not, we’re gonna live with bills for a while. Just have fun paying them and think as if you were one step ahead on your journey. [ and it’s true, financial resilience is achieved step by step, not all at once ]

20. Review A Nice Day

Just try to remember one of your best days. Might be a trip to an exotic place, the day you met your partner, whatever works for you. We all have these resources inside, but we seldom take the time to actually use them. We carry around our successes in our memory anyway, so why not putting them to some work when we want to feel better? [ some of my best days, for some reason, are Fridays ]

21. Watch People Faces

And try to guess things about them. What are they doing for a living? Are they in a relationship? Do they have kids? What are the things they like the most? I usually do this in a subway, for at least a half an hour, but a walk in a park could work just as well. It will instantly shift your focus to something more interesting than your own problems. [ sometimes I try to imagine the people behind my morning coffee ]

22. Take Something Off Of Your Chest

I’m not talking about arguing here. But if there’s something that was bothering you for a long time, you should let it out. Clean the air. Express your true feelings. If you keep it too much inside, it will ventually rotten. And fall apart. And we don’t want that. [ just make sure you know what you’re taking about ]

23. Practice (Or Start) A Hobby

Something that matters only for you. Build real size race cars out of matches or tiny vessels in bottles. As long as you can be on your own, doing what you like and enjoying it. It will lift your spirit instantly. [ I started to learn the play the guitar at an age when many people give up on hobbies, and it’s been very rewarding ]

24. Solve A Riddle

Again, this may have mixed results, but for me, it works. We’re wired for mystery and we’re filled with curiosity. Every time you exercise one of those (or both) you actually feel better. Just pick an easy riddle, for starters. [ or take test, here’s one for you right now: the only investor test you’ll ever need ]

25. Play With Your Pet

If you don’t have a pet, get one. If you never had one before, be prepared to do some work (and mess around the house) but believe me, in the end, it will well worth the trouble. [ and it helps with your emotional stability as well ]

26. Cook Something

Try pancakes if you think duck tongue is a bit out of your reach for the moment. But do mix some ingredients, boil some water, get a sip every now and then from what’s cooking, and, without even noticing, you’ll start to feel better. [ if you never cooked before, try making some tostadas – the Spanish name for sandwich, althey they’re way more than a sandwich ]

27. Share Something With Somebody

A meal or just some time together. Be with somebody else for a little while, but be in the same vibration. Tell a story, listen to a story or just watch the people together. The mix of the two of you will change the energies. For the better. [ideally, you could just start to learn how to rest together ]

28. Get Rid Of An Object

Like in completely and totally and randomly get rid of an object. If you think somebody else will need it, just wrap it up nicely and leave it outside, somewhere handy. A person in need will find the way to it. [ at an entirely different level, you can also try to get rid of the previous week, every Monday – it will do miracles, believe me ]

29. Make A Gift

Not the process of giving a gift. But the process of creating a gift. You may assemble it from various tiny pieces, or you can just craft something yourself. For me, just putting together the parts, the wrapping, the presentation, all the mix is lifting me up. [ oh, and then there’s the joy of the accidental gift you make to yourself by finding money in the back pocket of an old pair of jeans ]

30. Surprise Somebody

Pleasantly, that is. If you do it the other way, you may still feel better, but it may have unexpected consequences 🙂 Act silly, if you’re generally serious. Be serious, if you’re generally silly. But do it in some way that will pause the other person mind for a second. You’ll thank me for this one. [ start your Mondays by greeting someone you barely know ]

31. Plan A Trip

No need to actually go on a plane right now, just do a bit of research. It doesn’t really matter if you have the resources to go on that trip, what matters is that your mind is now focused on a journey you’d love, rather than on the dull and gray surroundings. [ if you do this long enough, you may start to understand why location independence is not a luxury anymore ]

32 Meet Someone New (For Real)

We live in the social media age. You do have a Twitter or a Facebook account, don’t you? Why don’t you try to actually meet in real life some of your “online friends”? I was a bit reluctant in the beginning, but as I went through more and more encounters like this, I realized it’s a real benefit. And a nice way to feel better. [ there’s more to this on this blog, just head up to the meaningful relationships area ]

33. Do Nothing

Sometimes, we just have to feel whatever was meant for us to feel. Life’s not always right, but it’s beautiful. Enjoy the moment, no matter how you feel about it. Because as long as you can feel something, you’re still alive. 🙂 [ just breathe in, breathe out ]

Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay