My mind is like an estuary – the tide comes in and the tide goes out – and somewhere in the middle am I.

The 20 Moodscope Cards are like the fresh, sweet, living water from the mountains pushing against the brackish, bitter waters of a sometimes vast ocean. Whilst they are not opposites, they do flow in opposite directions when it comes to my emotional 'state' each day:

Attentive...Afraid

Proud...Hostile

Interested...Jittery

Alert...Scared

Determined...Irritable

Enthusiastic...Distressed

Inspired...Guilty

Strong...Ashamed

Excited...Nervous

Active...Upset

Going down the page at random like this, it even looks like a wave in the middle where I bathe in these emotions. Sometimes I feel in danger of being swept this way and that by the current.

My idea today is that these two forces will always flow in opposite directions, so, for the good moods to conquer, I must either strengthen the red cards or weaken the negative, blue moods. Either strategy will work – or even a blend of the two: strengthen the red, weaken the blue.

'Hostile' is one of the more powerful blue cards for me. When I think the World is 'unfair' – I become more hostile. Can I weaken the feeling of hostility? Of course, I can. For me this means realising that the World is not supposed to be fair – it never has been – never will be. My sense of outrage is based on an unsustainable belief that the World should be fair hitting up against the immovable wall of reality and history. Either my belief or reality has to change. Challenging my unrealistic belief reduces the hostility – at least for me personally.

But can I make the World a fairer place? I believe I can. I chose the list above at random but interestingly, I've placed 'Proud' upstream from 'Hostile'. I like to make other people smile – that's something I'm proud of. Having weakened hostility by challenging my beliefs, I can then concentrate on making someone smile, and so strengthen my own good sense of pride.

In this way, the sweet-states of mind can prevail!

(Of course, if you're having a bad day, you'll point out that there is more salt-water than fresh-water but I'm using a metaphor to point to the Estuary where the exchange happens – hope it works for you.)

Lex

A Moodscope member.