Here’s Your Bad Day Fix

Days can turn on a dime. Know what I’m talking about?

You’re going through your day, happy as a pig in mud, when suddenly, out of nowhere, here it comes…

That BAD MOMENT.

It could last a minute, ten minutes, an hour, but no matter how long it lasts, it has the incredible power to completely change the rest of your day. Everything from that moment on, seems horrible. You’re in a stinky mood from that point on and you just…can’t…shake it.

Perhaps you had a spat with your husband, or maybe you yelled at your kid and the mom guilt is setting in. It could even be a glance inside that trash dump of a laundry room that sets you off. It could be anything at all. But no matter what it is, it has the power to change your emotional climate for the rest of the stinkin’ day.

So what do you do? Well, I thought you’d never ask…

1. Give bad moments permission to happen. Sometimes it helps to just remind yourself that everyone will have bad moments. Everyone will make stupid moves. It’s inevitable. We’re not perfect, but we can all make progress. When those bad moments come along just shrug it off. It helps to say out loud, “I can have a bad moment. But I will not have a bad day!” Just roll your shoulders back and see it as a moment, instead of that snowball that sets off the avalanche. Okay, I yelled at my child for spilling his food at the table. That was a stupid move, but I’m not helping myself or my child any by wallowing in guilt and depression. The moment is over. I’m going to learn from it and move on.

2. Label the moment. Do NOT label yourself. I’m pretty sure every true-blue mama has done this at least once in her life. She does something stupid, and all of a sudden, she’s a “stupid mom.” She does something impulsive and all of a sudden she has “no self control.” When I was little, we had a yard full of plum trees. If we picked one bad plum off of a tree my daddy didn’t run out there and chop the whole tree down. He just tossed the plum in the compost pile. You do the same with grapes. If you find one shriveled up grape, you don’t toss out the whole bunch. You just pick it off and throw it away. Learn to do that with moments. Label the moment and TOSS IT OUT! Do not label yourself.

3. Two wrongs don’t make a right. A lot of times, when we make a poor choice, or when we run across a frustrating situation, we feel like we have to “punish” ourselves by being miserable the rest of the day. No, it’s not logical, but our subconscious doesn’t operate by logic. You can’t pay your way out of a bad moment by doing time in misery and bitterness. The only way you can make a wrong right is to see it as a wrong, and then allow so much joy and happiness in your life, that it pushes that badness right out. Bad doesn’t drive away bad. It just draws in more bad. Quit paying a debt that was never yours to begin with.

4. Take authority over yourself (not the situation). Sometimes, you are totally powerless to turn a bad moment around. A child is acting out and you feel helpless to change it. Your husband is out of work and there’s no job in sight.  Sometimes, you feel as if you cannot take authority over a situation and a pervasiveness sense of hopelessness weighs you down. The dark clouds have rolled over and there’s no sunlight to be seen. Don’t fall for it! You can ALWAYS take authority over yourself! And that has a powerful effect on changing around a seemingly hopeless situation. No situation is hopeless! Happiness is not something that happens as a result of everything going your way all the time. Happiness is a choice you can make any moment of any dad (yes, even during the bad moments).

5. Remember that you are better than this! I’m pretty sure if you hung around me all day you would think I was on the verge of crazy (if not there already). I’m constantly talking to myself. And one thing I say over and over is, “You’re better than that.” When the bad moments happen–AND THEY WILL–don’t fall for the trap of making the rest of the day go downhill along with that one moment. You have the power to bring it right back up where it belongs. The Word of God tells us that we are kings and priests. The Bible tells us that we reign in authority. That means we need to be carrying ourselves like kings. Hold your head up high, shake it off, and just keep smiling. Let other people get overwhelmed over little, bitty incidents–you are better than that!

6. Make the next moment better. It’s the very best way to fix a bad day. When a bad moment comes along, shrug it off, and just make the next moment better. Did you have a fight with your spouse? Then text him an apology. Did you yell at your kid? Ask forgiveness and do something fun together. Did you catch sight of that filthy laundry room? Spend five minutes and give it a quick tidy. Got a bill you can’t pay? Spend a few minutes looking over your budget to see if there are some cuts you can make. You have more power than you think to fix a bad day–now use it!

What do you think? How do you turn a bad day around? I want to hear from you so please leave a comment below. We’ll all in this together!

~ Hannah