Things people do to lift the mood

Here are two very different ways to lift your mood if you feel down. I can’t help wondering if these are the sorts of things that don’t both work for most people. Is it one or the other or can it be both?

It started when I heard someone say that if they feel a bit down they get out the Vim and a damp cloth and clean the plug sockets. Easy to scoff, I thought, but who am I to say it won’t work? I've never tried it. So I took the time to think it through:

• Feel down
• Find cloth
• Damp it
• Get Vim
• Re-damp cloth which has dried out while at shop buying the Vim
• Move furniture to get at plug sockets
• Search for chisel to chip off encrusted dirt
• Cause avalanche of tools (all non-chisels) from shed
• Opt for a knife instead
• Find another cloth as the first has been used by someone else to clean the dog’s feet
• Damp it
• Have a go at the plug sockets
• Blow all the fuses
• Sleep for 2 days
• Wake refreshed.
• It works!

Who am I kidding? I concede the ground on the tidy house front. My house is not that tidy. But if I feel down, I take a walk outside and mooch about the garden.

Even allowing for stray thoughts such as ‘that chair must have been left out all night’, a few minutes contemplating the garden beats plug sockets for me.

So is that the norm? Does the garden beat the plug sockets or do most people find solace in both arenas?