Moods Are Like Clouds
During one of my episodes of depression, I watched this video on youtube where he said
"You are the sky. Any depression, frustration, sadness you feel are passing clouds".
It was a radical concept to me at that time and I felt so uplifted by it. It gave me hope. And ever since then, I do my best to remember it. Keeping track of my mood helps me to apply it in my life and practice this perspective.
Who you are on the inside, as a human, a valuable individual: You are the sky. Always there, a beautiful blue in the daytime, dark at night, orange and pink when the sun sets...
Any mood you feel, depression, frustration, joy, sadness, fear; these are passing clouds. They can appear and disappear, they can get blown by the wind. Sometimes they generate lightning and thunder and rain...
These clouds come and they go.
Some are black, some are white.
They can be big or small clouds.
Sometimes they pepper the sky, and sometimes they fill the sky.
But they always come and go.
Even when they fill the sky and feel like it at the time, they are not the sky.
In the same way as how we can't always accurately predict how many clouds there will be in the sky or how quickly they pass by... I see my moods in the same way.
I do not control the speed and direction of the wind that blows the clouds.
I do not control the color and size of the clouds.
I do not control when the clouds appear or disappear.
Just as there are times when I enjoy the hot weather for doing laundry and going to the beach, I also enjoy cloudy cool days for a picnic and rainy gloomy days to sleep in and take an afternoon nap...
I now see that there are benefits of experiencing different moods because I behave differently when I experience them.
Bad mood, angsty, grumpy days: I let myself take it slow and chill. I don't pressure myself to get anything done. I relax and watch youtube or any television dramas.
Good mood, high energy days: I get things done. I complete tasks on my to do list. I exercise or go out and meet friends.
Neutral moods: I'm in between or undecided what I actually feel, so I let myself go with the flow, and follow which tickles my fancy.
Mood tracking has helped me to see the impermanence of my moods and I am more able to live in the moment and experience how I am feeling, because I know that the angry, pissed-off emotions will pass. I don't know when or how long they will stay. But eventually, they will.
That is why I used the clouds design on the mood tracker spread on Mood Potatoes app. I hope this idea of your moods and emotions as passing clouds will be helpful to you.
You can download Mood Potatoes mood tracking app on both Android or iOS
