"Be Miserable ... Or Motivate Yourself"

I saw this picture on tumblr and for some reason I thought it was so important that I saved it to my phone. 

I think that sometimes it can be so easy to wallow in our own misery, to sit at home, to feel sorry for ourselves, to listen to every sad song we know on repeat.  When you feel down the last thing you want to do is listen to a whole bunch of upbeat, happy music because it's the opposite of how you feel, because the upbeat nature of the music almost feels like it's mocking your sadness.

It's obviously not easy to perform in sport if you're feeling sick and that's also true if you're not feeling mentally good. I feel like mental health is often overlooked when it comes to overall health.  People perform better when they're in a good mood (whether it be in sport, scholastically or at work) and I didn't realize until last season that by listening to one of my endless playlists of sad songs I could be affecting my performance. 

So if in order to skate well I have to listen to Best Song Ever by One Direction before every race to put me in a good mood that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.