Take a moment to reflect. 
Read over each question below, silently. 
Sometimes a question will help you find a fresh perspective on whatever is making you sad.  Sometimes a question will be irrelevant.  The questions below are presented in an order designed to be most useful for sad mood states.  For other mood states, like anxiety and anger, other groups of questions or sequences may be more useful.  The 10-second attitude shift is like a multivitamin:  there is something useful to nearly everyone.  Think about the situation that is bringing you down, then read over the list of questions below.

For more tips on beating sadness, click here.

What can you learn from this situation that would help you in other places in your life?

What will this situation look like next year?  What will it look like many years from now?

What is the worst thing that is really likely to happen in this situation?  If that happened, what good things would you still be able to enjoy in your life?  What can you do now to make the worst case scenario less likely?  What can you do now to make the worst case scenario less threatening?

What can you do to take care of yourself - to make yourself calmer or more comfortable - at this moment?  What can you do to take care of yourself through the rest of today and this week?  Can you remember to do those things?

What stories have you been telling yourself about the depressing situation?  Can you think of a more empowering or helpful story?

Should you put yourself first in this situation?

What is the most pleasurable thing about this moment, right now?

Think of somebody you admire.  How would that person look at the situation that is making you sad?  What would that person do?

What is your overall mission in life right now, and what would it have you do?

What is the reality of the depressing situation?  What is the threat?  What is your goal?  How can you work toward it?

What is so terrible about this particular moment, right now?  Are you making yourself miserable unnecessarily?

What advantages do you have in your depressing situation that you would not have in other situations that look more appealing to you right now?

What is the best thing that has happened to you recently?

What healthy things have you done to get through sad times before?

If a friend were in your depressing situation, what would you say to help them through it?

The poet shall not spend his time in unneeded work.  He shall know that the ground is always ready ploughed and manured…others may not know it, but he shall.  He shall go directly to the creation.  His trust shall master the trust of everything he touches, and shall master all attachment.
Walt Whitman,   Leaves of Grass