Mind Over Matter?

I have previously written a blog on things that cheer me up when i'm down (archives: Out of the Dumps), but i was wondering what is the actual significance of these activities or actions? Does it really help cheer me up or do i just think that it helps cheer me up? There is a significant difference between the two.

I had a lot of issues on my mind yesterday. There were some things that were seriously bothering me. I was even telling my best friend that so far this hasn't been too good a year for me as so many things seem to be going wrong. As we got finished lunch in mid valley, i told her that i needed to go shopping. Fortunately, she understood me-i needed something to cheer myself up. You can't imagine how much it helped. A few garments later, everything was starting to look beautiful again and already i felt much better. It wasn't a momentary thing either because i went home feeling better. I hadn't dismissed the other issues from my mind, but i was able to manage them and not let them overwhelm me.

But then i was thinking...i doubt that it's really purchasing something that cheers me up. It's more like i'm cheered up because i tell myself i will be after some shopping. If this is so, then that means that whenever i'm down, i can just tell myself to cheer up and that should work; the shopping put aside. Of course this isn't easy, but still, it should work, right? Mind over matter.