21 Mar How do you manage a bad day?
What do you normally do when you’re having a bad day? When life throws you that unwelcomed curveball.
Do you get sucked down into a vortex of poor me or why me?
• How do you react?
• Do you get angry or aggressive?
• Throw a tantrum?
• Feel sorry for yourself
• Complain or do the blame game?
• Project onto others?
Maybe you host your own pity party by being dramatic, self-indulgent by either overeating, binge alcohol, use drugs or make other destructive choices that only band-aid your bad day and infect it even more, those things that you’ll regret later? This is far from a coping strategy!
Think about what the consequences will be if you give in to that negative self-talk and indulge in that self-destructive behaviour. Will these results improve your day or life, or will they make things worse for you in the end?
Choose to respond to the situation instead of reacting. Don’t need to numb yourself out, as another alternative, hit the pause button. Recognize your moment of personal weakness and remind yourself it’s just a bad day, not a bad life! Put it in perspective, look at the situation from the big picture of life.
What happened was it really a big deal?
Will it matter in a few days?
Be constructive and proactive instead. Make better choices that actively improve and help you to reclaim your “bad day” even when it feels all is lost.
Willingly choose those things that are healthy life choices that help lift your mood, instead of sabotaging your day or life.
Channel the energy of anger and frustration into a constructive activity.
Like exercise, go for a run, a brisk walk, go to the gym, weight train, clean something, the house, car, cook, garden, do something fun, sing, dance get creative. Even if you don’t feel like it. Talking with a trusted friend, a family member can provide objectivity and offer a different perspective as well as support. These are all great energy and mood shifters. Just don’t be idle as this only stagnates the negative energy.
The next time you have a bad day and are tempted to slip back into those old destructive habits that leave you feeling regretful and hating on yourself. See and read that signpost of temptation and put yourself on pause, reframe your thinking, reframe your action plan, despite your negative state of mental stress, and choose better for yourself, you may just turn that bad day into an alright day!