The Upside to Grumpy: embracing the dark side

Dammit, Quarantine. You Got Me in a Bad Mood. But It’s Okay.

Because now I have permission to intermittently ignore the voice in my head telling me to cheer up.

Why? Because there’s an upside to being grumpy, angry, and anxious!

Susan David, PhD, explains how we can use our negativity to our advantage her bestselling book, Emotional Agility: get unstuck, embrace change, and thrive in work and life.

Dr. David says negative moods ‘summon a more attentive, accommodating thinking style that leads you to really examine facts in a fresh and creative way’.

If you’re in a funk, she says, you’re probably less gullible and more skeptical. You’re also not setting expectations and are less prone to disappointment than the eternally optimistic people.

And, even if you’ve done what I’ve suggested here, you’re still going to experience foul moods. There will be days where you feel like you have your own personal rain cloud.

There will be days when you’re acting like an a-hole and bumming everyone out.

So, how can you harness your quarantine bummer vibes and use them to your advantage?

I suggest you slither into your grumpy pants, put on your bitchiest specs, and start looking for new opportunities NOW, because…

Your memory is better

Huh?

Yep. When you’re feeling prickly, Dr. David says you’re more likely to filter out misleading information, so that only the pertinent stuff sticks.

This might be a great time to learn new skills.

Skillz! There’s so much to learn online.

So, if you’ve been meaning to level up your guitar skills (that’s me) or learn Excel, now’s your chance. YouTube is a great place to start, but if you’ve got a little cash for learning, you could try LinkedIn Learning (aka Lynda.com; it might even be free through your public library), Skillshare, edX, Udemy, or Coursera.

Have fun exploring the possibilities!

You’re more likely to perservere

Dr. David says that when we’re feeling great, we’re less likely to push ourselves. So, now might be THE time to push yourself to show up and start a new habit.

Build a website! Start a side hustle! Or translate your existing skills into a new format.

My friend, Nichole, is a high-end hair stylist whose salons (three of them) are closed for business. She has a great social media presence and connects with her extremely hip clients this way, so she had the great idea to offer her virtual services for a small fee: Her first was a ‘Kitchen Scissors Trim-Yer-Own Bangs’ personalized tutorial.

Of course I’ll be requesting one!

You’re more open-minded

If you’re upset and angry, it might be a good opportunity to explore other points of view.

Dr. David says we’re more willing to seek out ideas contrary to what we believe in order to ‘nail the opposition’. But, in the end, we might end up changing our minds about our initial argument.

This is known as ‘intellectual humility‘.

I like this phrase. It sounds fancy, and who doesn’t want to be an intellectual?! But it also sounds like an opportunity to reconnect with some friends and family we’ve lost touch with because of a differing of opinion on certain issues.

Those folks we canceled on Facebook might deserve a second chance. Or not. Just a thought.

Time to Edit!

What will you do with YOUR foul mood? Let’s explore some possibilities:

Level up an existing skill. Look for a YouTube video to inspire you to write more, paint more, sew more, build more! YouTube is an endless buffet of inspo.
Try moving your skill to a new format. Make a video tutorial to share with your pals on Insta.
Read an article or two that addresses an issue from an opposing viewpoint. This might inspire you to reconnect with family and friends in a more open-minded way.

Hope you are staying healthy and sane out there.

Or is it ‘in there’?

Happy editing!

Erica