what the doctor ordered

I got to go home last week for Thanksgiving. I didn't realize how lucky I am to be one of the few to get to actually go home for the holidays, but I truly am so grateful to live close.

For some reason I was in a weird mood for part of the time, which was a tragedy since time with my family is valuable and limited while I'm in school. I couldn't figure out what the problem was and why I seemed to be in such a rut. I even woke up sad one day. Was it because I...

don't thrive well on 4 hours of sleep?
was having boy weirdness issues?
had the stress of unfinished homework hanging over my head?
was feeling the vicious cycle of bad mood>brattiness>feel bad>feel sad>bad mood>...?
felt completely unproductive {as far as homework goes}?
was dreading the end of vacation and school starting?

I'm still not sure what was causing my sadness, but I felt so terrible about being moody since I'm supposed to be the fun, mature, exciting, spontaneous older sister. I asked my doctor father what I could do to fix it, and I liked the advice; it was simple enough.

Rx
Get sun--vitamin D increases the release of endorphins {happy chemicals!}.
Go for a quick run everyday.
Get enough sleep--I don't do well without sleep.
Stay on top of my homework so I'm not constantly worried about falling behind.

Amazing what the most basic things can do. Sometimes the best medicine is simply the things we need for general survival. Neglect the fundamentals of existence, and it's hard to thrive.