Turn A Bad Day Around
We all have bad days. Whether it is because we are not feeling well, didn’t sleep enough, traffic, bosses, coworkers, kids, pets…there are a million reasons to have a bad day.
But there is one reason to turn it around: you want to.
If you want to have a better day, make up your mind to do it. It’s never too late to turn a bad day around.
Bad Days Are A Fact of Life
No one has good days all the time.We all have bad days. But the frequency and severity of our bad days are more about how we are reacting to things going around us than what is actually going on.
So here are my tried-and-true methods to turn a bad day around.
Nap
For me, many bad days come out of my being tired. If I take a nap, things generally look better.
I will generally only sleep for 20-45 minutes, using an app (sadly no longer in the app store). It monitors my movement and keeps me from slipping into deep sleep.
Shower
There is something relaxing and rejuvenating about having water pour over me. I can take a long hot shower and relax into the water.
Adding my favorite body gel stretched the feeling of being pampered. By the time I am done, I feel better.
If I really want to extend this (for a really bad mood) I will follow this with some nice lotion and fluffy socks.
Walk Outside
I spend way too much of my life indoors. Being outside, without music or podcasts playing, I can observe what is around me.
Yesterday I watched ducks and geese feeding on the river near my home. I saw how quickly the tide was coming in. I heard the osprey as it flew overhead to its nest on the radio tower. I smelled (then sneezed) the decaying leaves under the trees.
By the time I returned home, I was in a much better frame of mind.
Call or Text A Friend
When I am having a bad day and I start to throw myself a pity party, I call a friend. I have a list of ten people I can call and they will listen to me whine for a bit, and then help me find my way out of it.
Recently, I was feeling down because radiation treatment was exhausting me, and I had to deal with a mysoginistic and arrogant vendor who forgot who the client was. I called three people before one was able to talk, and we worked through all of the issues. Even though nothing could be done about either the exhaustion or the a**, being really heard was enough to snap me out of it.
Read
Reading was my escape from some terrible things as a child. I still find that stepping into a fictional world for a half hour is enough to make my mood shift.
I find that my favorites (Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, Mary Stewart and David Eddings) are the best. I can slip into the world for a half hour, and because they have been read many times before, I’m not tempted to stay there over long.
Pick A Favorite Smell
Scents can evoke a mood. Most of us have favorite scents that bring up good memories.
Vanilla makes me thing of making cookies with my daughter. Apple scent make me think of apple picking as a child, and eating apples fresh out of the trees. Same with strawberry.
Lavender is the go-to scent for relaxation, but you can pick a scent that is personal.
I recently bought a banana bread candle for my office. It’s amazing how much that can make me feel relaxed.
Eat Something Healthy
I am a stress eater. When I am in a bad mood, I often will want to eat something really unhealthy.
I’ve learned that if I tell myself I can eat whatever I want, as long as I have a fruit smoothie first, the initial craving goes away.
My go-to these days is a banana, a cup of frozen blueberries, and a cup of almond milk. By the time I’m done with that, I usually feel like I’ve had a treat.
The bonus with this is that I also end up feeling better physically from having the fruit, liquid and protein.
Write Everything Down And Burn It
There is great relief to be found with cathartic writing. Get it all down on paper, every last bit of it. And then burn it (safety first, please!)
I often will do an alternate version of this: write everything down on toilet paper. Obviously, tp won’t stand up to long sentences, so I pick words and phrases. Then I flush it.
It’s the same principle as burning, but less flame. 🙂
Have A Hot Beverage
I love my coffee and tea. Making a special cuppa and then taking time to really savor it (no drinking it while I check email!) can reset a bad mood.
I will usually add a flavored syrup to the coffee to make it seem more special when I am doing this. The change from my morning coffee makes me recognize on some level that this is a treat.
In conclusion, turning a bad day around is entirely within your power. These simple yet effective strategies can help shift your perspective and improve your mood. Remember, it’s not about avoiding bad days altogether, but rather about developing the resilience to navigate through them. The next time you find yourself having a bad day, try one or more of these methods. You might be surprised at how quickly your outlook can change. After all, every day presents a new chance to create positive experiences and find joy in the little things.
