There are days when you just don’t feel right. Not sad enough to cry, not tired enough to sleep ~ just stuck, like you’re wrapped in a wet blanket you didn’t ask for. The kind of day where even making coffee feels like climbing a hill with no top. And if you’ve had one of those, you already know: the worst part isn’t the mood ~ it’s the feeling that you’re supposed to just push through it. But “pushing through” isn’t enough. What you really need are ways to meet yourself where you are without making things harder.

Take a Walk, Even If You’re Still in Pajamas

You don’t need to make it a whole thing. You don’t need fancy sneakers, you don’t need to time yourself, you don’t need to turn it into a mental health moment. Just open the door, step out, and move your body a little. The sky looks different when you’re under it instead of behind a window, and even if all you do is walk to the corner and back, that’s still movement ~ and movement matters.

Make Something That Doesn’t Have to Be Pretty

There’s a weird kind of freedom in creating something with zero pressure to make it good. Doodle, tear up magazines and make a collage, smear some paint around, cut up cardboard and tape it into a weird shape ~ seriously, anything. When your thoughts are loud or cloudy or just tired, your hands can speak in a different language. And when you’re done, don’t throw it away ~ look at it and think: This came out of me. This is real. I’m still here.

Text the Person Who Gets It Without Needing an Explanation

You know the one. The person who doesn’t need small talk, doesn’t ask for context, doesn’t judge you for disappearing sometimes. On a hard day, send them a “hey” or a random photo or a meme ~ anything to crack the silence. You don’t need a full conversation to feel less alone; sometimes, it just helps to know someone’s on the other side of the line.