About That “Bad Day” You’re Having…

There are no bad days, only bad moments.

And actually, those moments…are they really bad? Why do we need label them as bad? Granted, some things are actually bad…like if someone gets hurt, or when someone we love dies, or when our dog gets hit by a car. Yes, those things are bad. But most things…well, they are not actually bad.

They might be challenging, uncomfortable, difficult, or unexpected. But bad? Let’s rethink that.

When we label things – days, moments, people, items, behaviors – as good or bad, we are making a blanket statement. I’m all for nice warm cozy blankets, but not for blanket statements.

Life is not black and white. There’s an awful lot of grey in it.

And in the grey is the beauty of realization and perspective. Perspective comes when we step outside ourselves and take a look at what’s happening, without being emotionally attached to our internal story.

Am I not enjoying this conversation I’m stuck in right now at this meeting? Why? Is it the person? The topic? The meeting room? Is it because I hate my job but I keep making excuses as to why I can’t leave it?

Did I just get the email that I didn’t get that job or school that I applied for? That’s disappointing, but it probably wasn’t the right opportunity for me. What can I do now to move forward?

Am I feeling lonely? Guess what, loneliness is just fine, and when I’m alone it’s a great time to figure out what I love about myself, to do the things I love to do, and learn how to take care of myself without anyone else poking their nose into my business. Being alone can be great. It’s a great feeling, actually.

Am I missing someone? Longing for connection is easy to solve. Call or text a friend. If they don’t answer, call another one. If they don’t answer call your Mom. If you can’t call your Mom, call someone else’s Mom. Reach out, somehow, someway.

Did my car just run out of gas and now I’m waiting for AAA? Or worse yet, walking to the gas station? Does this make the day bad? Or does it make me realize that I should smarten up and get gas when the “need gas” light goes on?

The point is…many of our bad days aren’t actually bad days. You see, there’s this thing called life that we are living. If we expect every moment and every day to be perfect, inspiring, awesome, and everything we’ve ever dreamed of...well we are going to be sorely disappointed. Life is full of feelings, lessons, experiences and moments.

Every day is a day to live this joyous life! Each day might have some moments in it that are inconvenient, annoying, and icky, but there are SO many more moments in each day that we can appreciate the good. Let’s not let a few less than stellar moments ruin our day, ok?

So…are you really having a bad day? Or are you creating a bad day?

When I hear “I’m having a bad day,” my first question is…well, what time is it? Because if there are more than say, 20 minutes left in this day before you go to bed, you could be really setting yourself up for a doozy. I mean, come on, do you really want to put that out to The Universe?

“Oh, she’s having a BAD day! Ok, let’s run with this…I’ll have her trip going up the stairs, then she will forget her phone inside the house so she has to go back in after she’s already up the street in the car on the way to work. Great. Okay, then let’s send some traffic, or even better, a very slow driver in front of her. That’s good. Ok what else? How about the people at Dunk’s get her coffee order wrong? Let’s throw in a last minute board meeting this afternoon that she doesn’t have time for too. Yesss! One bad day coming up!”

Does it really work like this? Not exactly…but kind of. What you put out you get back. The Universe is listening and will deliver what you request, even if you don’t realize that you are requesting it.

So if you want to have a Bad Day, then go ahead and say it out loud...“I’m having a Bad Day!” Hey, you might even get bonus points for yelling it or saying it with an angry voice, and then you can have a “Really Bad Day!”

But if you want to have a Good Day, you know what to do. 😉

Go and do, with grace.

xo
Nancy