Grumpy me...how I cured it!

Thursday the 6th. Six days of blogging and so far so good, I think.

It's been a particularly difficult week for me physically. As many of you know, I have a variety of chronic illnesses.  The top three are Multiple Sclerosis, Psoriatic Arthritis and Diabetes. This week I got a flu shot and have spent the last 24 hours or so with a low grade fever and a headache.  This has made me a little grumpy.  Ok, more than a little grumpy.  I had some work done on my car a few weeks ago and now I'm back at the mechanic getting it fixed.  I'm behind on some work I need to complete for school. I'm worried about being able to complete a CPE course and well - I'm grumpy!

Then I saw a woman by the road with a sign.  I've done a lot of work with people experiencing homelessness. I'm usually giving time and effort to the cause. I learned early on that when regularly working with the same folks over and over, offering cash too often changes the relationship in negative ways.  On the other hand, when I'm approached and I have some money, I will usually give money.  On this really grumpy day, this woman held a sign. When I'm feeling self-pity, I need to do something nice for someone else. So I gave her $20.  I told her that I was being grumpy and I needed to snap out of it. I told her to go and get a really good lunch at a local restaurant. I felt better.

We all have bad days. Helping someone have a better day is usually the only cure for me having a bad day.  What do you do to snap you out of a downward spiral of grumpiness and self-pity?