How to Get Through a Bad Day (Part 1)

No matter how hard we try to make them otherwise, some days are just awful. They start off bad, they never get any better, and they end on a low and sometimes even gloomier note. These days befuddle your mind, waste your finite resources and throw your calendar off.

Some people call the state of mind accompanying this day 'depression' or are content to simply think of it as 'having a bad day'. Sometimes there are logical explanations - you failed to get a good night's sleep, or you're going through difficulties, problems, or are in the midst of a bad situation. Sometimes the root of your bad day can be found in a negative morning experience - you just had an argument with your spouse or one of your kids. Mostly, though, these days seem to strike at will and we don't understand how or why they have entered our lives.

What do you do at these times? How do you handle the 'bad' days? What are good strategies to make these days go away or, at the very least, lessen the pain, confusion and drama associated with them?

It is true that some days seemed destined to go wrong from the very beginning. We wake up in a lousy mood, we go to the bathroom and discover we are out of toothpaste. Our son or daughter has eaten the last of our favorite breakfast cereal. We're late to work because the dog got loose. Our kids forgot to tell us that today they are to be dropped off at a different location to go on a school trip. Someone is sick. You are sick. You are sick of your job. Your car isn't acting right. Your mother isn't acting right. Your boss is getting on your nerves. Your co-workers are talking too loudly. No one around there wants to do a full day's work. Too many people are doing a full day's work.

Your mate has left you. You have left your mate. You don't know where the money will come from to pay your bills. You can't keep track of how many bills you need to pay. You need to run 20 different errands, but your boss won't let you take an extended lunch hour. You need to speak with your boss, but she has taken a two hour lunch. You are dealing with the death of a loved one. You are dealing with the death of your identity as a young person or as a single person. Life has changed. You have changed. And the numerous problems, obligations and responsibilities you will face in a given day are doing nothing to make the situation better.

The key to dealing with this kind of day (or week or month) is to remember that it's only temporary. No matter how bad it is, it will eventually be over. You will eventually get the money to turn the lights back on, your boss will eventually return from her lunch, you will eventually get used to being newly single. And, no matter how annoyed or frustrated you are at a given moment, that too will pass. The problem will remedy itself, your moodiness will take its leave and life will return to normal. Even if you are dealing with an ongoing problem, remember, soon, it will be over! It may not seem like it, you may not be able to see any light at the end of any tunnel, you may feel like your life is one big mess, and that this problem will never end, but none of these things is true. This problem, too, at some point or another, will pass.

Though this day or this week has been terrible, the problem itself is only temporary. And, for a temporary problem, you need a temporary remedy. It does you no good to hear you should 'be of good cheer' when there is no internal cheer to be found. It's no point in pretending to be sitting on top of the world when you are in fact at the bottom of a ditch. When you feel down, you need to find something to address that feeling, right then.

We all know the prescription for a healthy life - pray, eat healthy foods, exercise, maintain a good weight, etc., etc. We probably know the calorie or carbohydrate count for all our favorite foods and can all quote the recommended 30 minutes of daily exercise that we are supposed to be getting. These, however, are long-term solutions to your mental, spiritual and physical health. Right now you need something that will get you through right now. Today. With the hope that tomorrow will be better.

Today you feel miserable. Today you can't remember why you got married, why you got divorced, why you had kids, why you put off having kids, why you quit your job, how you can stand to be at your job for one more minute, etc., etc. Today you have had enough. None of your positive affirmations are working - you feel more like the tail than the head, none of your friends are bothering to answer your phone calls and those that do are not helping your problems one bit. None of your positive thinking has helped, none of your scripture quoting has brought you relief, that pretty new dress you bought doesn't fit because you've gained five pounds, the car you thought so much of needs a very expensive repair, the lights are off, the water company is leaving threatening messages and your credit cards are maxed out. In other words, all the things and people you normally rely upon to bring you up are bringing you down. Here's what you do.

Have that pint of ice cream. The body is seeking chemical remedy to its feeling 'down'. Your body knows, and you instinctively know, that that ice cream cone, cookie, brownie or bag of potato chips will cause a sugar rush which will help you temporarily feel 'up.' For that moment, at least, you will feel better and that may be all you need to get through that hour or that moment of need.

Watch that sad, old tear-jerker of a movie and cry, cry, cry. You probably have been bottling up your emotions anyway. You'll feel much better after crying over Lana Turner's remorse over not acknowledging her mother in 'Imitation of Life' or Michelle Pfieffer's loss of Robert Redford in 'Up Close and Personal.' Release is a wonderful thing and your body will appreciate its opportunity to vent some repressed emotion.

Go ahead and lay in bed all day. You were probably tired anyway and too busy 'multi-tasking' to notice. Your body is a finely tuned instrument that needs fine care and attention. How have you been treating yourself lately?



Religion, Spirituality, Christian, Christianity, Self-Help, Advice