"Taylor Swift's new song Opalite is all about transformation. She sings about turning darkness ("onyx nights") into brightness ("make your own sunshine"). Like the shimmering human-made gem it's named for, the song reminds us that happiness isn't found, it's created. Swift's lyrics show that mindset is within our locus of control. With some reframing and Swiftie affirmations, setbacks become "just a temporary speed bump," "failure gives you freedom," and when life gets challenging, "don't sweat it, baby.""
"One lyric in particular, the black-and-white "you're starving 'til you're not," reminds me of a new study ( Le et al., 2025) in Psychology of Sport and Exercise. The researchers found that the main difference in people's next-day happiness boiled down to how much time they spent sitting. Or, in Opalite-inspired terms: "You're either sitting or you're not.""
"You're always doing one of these five things: in bed, awake or asleep, sitting still or moving, or doing light activity or MVPA. The study's key insight lies in treating these behaviors as mutually exclusive, zero-sum choices. Time spent in one behavior comes at the expense of another, and today's trade-offs influence tomorrow's mood."
Daily time divides into five mutually exclusive categories: sleeping; awake in bed (scrolling, reading, rumination); sitting (sedentary behavior); light activity (casual walking, standing, housework); and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) such as brisk walking, jogging, or cycling. Time allocated to one category reduces time available for others, creating zero-sum trade-offs. The balance between sitting and light activity predicts next-day mood, with replacing sitting time with light activity boosting happiness the following day. Mindset and reframing can support resilience, but behavioral time allocation directly shapes next-day well-being.
Read at Psychology Today
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