Here is my testimony on how to survive a bad day.
It’s Friday the 13th. The alarm goes off, and I realize I set it for 7 AM instead of 6 AM. I am going to be late for a very important meeting! Then I cut myself shaving. Jumping in the shower, soaking wet, I realize there is no shampoo. I stub my toe in the dark, looking for my shoes. I put on a black sock, and a blue sock. Traffic is EASILY, 5 times as bad as it usually is. 7 people cut me off on the way to work, versus the normal 3. Slowpokes are out in force, cruising down the avenue as if it was Sunday afternoon.
Burger King is out of French Toast Sticks!!! There is a brown out at work as I am booting up my laptop. And finally, to take the cake, I fish my glasses out of my backpack, and the frame is broken. You get the picture? A really BAD day. These are silly little events that go on n life, and your bad experiences could be much more serious. But the outcomes are similar. Bad mood, bad feeling, bad outcome.
So here’s what I do to survive a bad day:
- Close my eyes, take a deep breath, and count to ten while exhaling (this really does help folks!)
- Peruse my To Do list, grab the three easiest tasks, and knock them out immediately. This helps to focus me on doing something useful, and gets me a sense of accomplishment right away. It steers me away from the bad stuff that I have already experienced and into a Can Do, Good Day mood.
- I grab the grungiest task from my list and dive right into it. Even if I can’t finish it, I make some significant progress, and I feel good about that.
Poof! Bad Day is gone. It works for me! What kinds of things do you do when you are experiencing a bad day, besides throwing the covers over your head and going back to sleep???
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