It’s not a bad day.
It’s a me day.
“It’s ok to have bad days, to put yourself first, to feel less than perfect, to want to feel more like you again.”
Unknown
We all have those days where we think, could this day get any worse? And I’m not talking about the kind of bad day where you’re rushing out the door, trip and spill your coffee all over your pristine, white dress. As you rush around trying to change your clothes, you realised you’ve missed the train and are going to be late for your client meeting. And it’s not even 9 a.m. yet. F**k me, could this day get any worse?
No, I’m talking about the kind of bad day where, as soon as you wake up, for no explicable reason you feel this big dark cloud looming above you. You don’t want to get out of bed; you don’t want to talk to anyone; you don’t want to eat anything; you just want to keep the blinds closed, pull the duvet over your head, and shut out the outside world. I can’t be alone in feeling this way. 🤷🏻♀️
So today, when I woke up, having one of those days, I decided to do things differently. Instead of just getting back into bed and pulling the duvet over my head, I took my laptop to bed and started typing whatever was in my head and I reached one simple conclusion…
It’s ok to have bad days. There, I said it.
Bad days do not need to turn into bad weeks, bad months, a bad year or worse a bad life, it’s just a bad day. So now instead of sitting here asking myself why am I having a bad day? I just embrace it and sit back, relax and accept that it’s ok to have days when you just don’t want to do anything. There’s no need to take that bad day to a place of woe is me. No. simply switch the word bad out for me and your bad day turns into a glorious me day. A time where you recalibrate and spend time with the most important person in your life, you.
I know it’s easier said than done. We live in a society where we’re praised for working hard, if we received the same praise for taking an hour out of our day to enjoy our lunch, lunchtime walks, or just to sit on a lovely bench watching the world go by, we may feel less guilty and more inclined to make time for ourselves.
When I feel like I’m having one of those days, this is what I do:
- BE MINDFUL
Mindfulness is a word that is thrown about everywhere. Be mindful about what you put in your mouth, be mindful about your emotions becoming your actions etc etc. Whereas all this is true, all I’m hearing is blah blah blah. When I say be mindful, I mean listen to what you want and need, giving yourself permission to act on it. Want to eat that slice of cake? Eat it. Need to work out but really can’t be bothered? Don’t go. Want to spend the day in bed? Do it. Yes, you may have a million other things to do, but that to-do list can wait. Today is about you. - BE HONEST
Being honest with ourselves is often the hardest thing we have to do. If you are truly having a bad day, and I don’t mean the kind of ‘I missed my train, I misplaced one of my favourite shoes, I broke my nail’ bad day, then you need to have the strength to ask yourself what is causing these feelings. Is it work? Is it your personal life? Is it your health? There will always be a trigger. Once you know the trigger, you can delve deeper into the change you need to make. Understand that you can’t change anything unless you’re prepared to fix it. As they say, be the change you want to see. - BE REAL
Stop pretending. I know it’s really easy to plaster a smile on your face when you’re feeling like crap, hell I’m the master of this. But if you’re not prepared to acknowledge what’s going on, how can you help yourself and how can those that love you help you? They’re not mind readers. I know it’s not their job to pull you out of a rut, but sometimes just knowing there’s someone in your corner is enough. Some days you just need a hug and to feel someone’s arms around you, whispering in your ear, “it’s going to be ok”. - BE POSITIVE
Change isn’t easy but it’s vital for growth. If you’re prepared to turn a bad day into a good day that’s half the battle won. Never let a bad situation bring out the worst in you. Stay strong and be positive. When we adopt a victim mentality, we believe we’re just unlucky and everything bad that could happen, happens to us. But if we change our outlook to a warrior mentality our viewpoint does a 360. So the next time you’re feeling sorry for yourself, remember this – to date, you’ve survived 100% of your bad days, this makes you a fighter. 100% is a pretty good track record, don’t you think? - BE KIND
Being kind to others comes much more naturally than being kind to yourself. When you’re feeling low it’s easy to have negative thoughts about yourself, but showing some kindness can change all that. Acknowledge the good things you do and qualities you have. Indulge your senses. Light a scented candle, put on an uplifting track, indulge in a hobby that you don’t get to spend much time doing. Pretty soon you’ll be asking yourself, bad day? What bad day?
Remember, most of your stress comes from the way you respond, not the way life is. Adjust your attitude. Change your perspective. Focus on the good in every situation. Learn the lesson and all that extra stress will soon disappear. Now I’m off to go and enjoy the rest of my day. All of a sudden it doesn’t feel so bad 😀
