Some days are just hard. You wake up tired and your shoulders slump before you even get out of bed. Even when you go through the right motions, (make the bed, eat a healthy breakfast, brush your teeth) it just feels like you’re slogging through and you don’t even know why you got up.

Maybe expectations have gone south, finances are tight, relationships are strained, moods are sour, the news is grim and anything that tastes good is going to add to your next bad mood down the road. Ugh. Meh. It’s one of those days.

I like this quote by Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “We sometimes think that being grateful is what we do after our problems are solved, but how terribly shortsighted that is. How much of life do we miss by waiting to see the rainbow before thanking God that there is rain? Being grateful in times of distress does not mean that we are pleased with our circumstances. It does mean that through the eyes of faith we look beyond our present day challenges…This is not a gratitude of the lips but of the soul. It is a gratitude that heals the heart and expands the mind.”

Even when you’re having one of those days, it can be helpful to shift your focus to the things that ARE going right. There’s always something: I’m grateful for indoor plumbing, that I can watch the snowstorm from a heated apartment, that I have food and clean water, and that my mood will shift to something better as it always does eventually.

My wishes that you will have a safe holiday, engaging in the things most proven to bring happiness: personal growth, service, relationships and gratitude. Each one of those things increases dopamine and serotonin (the feel-good neurotransmitters), and will brighten a dark day.

Try this: Name at least three things that you are grateful for every day from now until Christmas . To make it more powerful, imagine each one of them and notice where you feel it in your body. Even better, write them down. If your list includes someone else, tell them about it!