Do you ever experience a complete lack of energy and general disinterest in life? As someone who works from home, with very little human contact during the day, and not even a pet to keep me company (my roommate is allergic), I sometimes develop a case of what I like to call "the blahs."

When the latest onslaught of the blahs struck yesterday afternoon, I became determined to find a way to rise above the ennui, since life is too magical and wonderful to squander one minute of it on boredom.

Here are a few coping mechanisms I came up with to help replace blahness with excitement and energy. Most of these have been adapted from wisdom and advice I've received through various sources over the years.

1. Take a deep breath - Shallow breathing is a leading cause of low energy and subsequent boredom. If you find yourself lacking zest for life, try taking a few, deep, refreshing breaths. Be sure to exhale completely to help ensure that your lungs can take in the maximum amount of oxygen during your inhales.

2. Adopt an attitude of gratitude - If you're feeling down in the dumps, take a moment to think about all the blessings in your life, and give thanks to whatever entity you believe in, or the universe, or just thank yourself for everything that you've done to arrive at such a great place in life. It's difficult to feel anything other than blissfully happy when you're in a state of gratitude.

3. Shake it off - One of the benefits of being a teleworker is that I can get up and do a little dance if I need an energy boost. Since I wouldn't recommend this in a public setting, sometimes all you need is a quick walk to the water cooler or the break room, or just a stretch to relax your neck and shoulder muscles. A little movement can do a lot to shift your mindset.

4. Create - Sometimes an outpouring of creative energy is exactly what you need to recapture your passion for life. Journaling or blogging works best for me, others may find their creative outlet in cooking, doodling, developing a yoga routine, writing letters, making videos, daydreaming... the possibilities are virtually endless.

5. Expand your mind - It's difficult to be unenthused about life if you take a moment to learn more about yourself and the world around you, be it through books, music, movies, the Internet, recreational activities, conversations, or any other source of mental stimulation. The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know, which motivates me to seek out additional knowledge in a neverending quest to better myself.

6. Set goals - If you're not happy with where you currently are, start thinking about where you'd like to be. From a conscious creation standpoint, thoughts manifest into reality, and the vibrational energy you send out will, to a large part, determine the nature of your experiences. So if you want to transform your life from blah to brilliant, think positive thoughts and keep holding the image of how you would like things to be in mind.

7. Smile (a.k.a Fake it before you make it) - Although I've forgotten much of what I learned in college, one thing that stuck with me was a passage from a psychology textbook saying that when we make vowel noises like "aye" and "ahh," they cause our mouth to turn upward and therefore lift our mood, while sounds like "ewe" and "oh" cause our mouths to turn downward and have the opposite effect. So, in essense, sometimes elevating your mood is as simple as turning your frown upside down.

I'm sure this isn't an exhaustive list, but these are the strategies that seem to help me the most. Please feel free to add to the discussion if you know of any blah-beating mechanisms that I've failed to list here.