5 Ways to Beat a “Bad Day”

I had one last Monday.  In a season of so many more good ones, last Monday was a bad one.  I felt waves of despair rocking me, hopeless me seeping in like creeping crud.  To quote the song from the band Skillet, “Sometimes I just feel like a Monster!”  Ever feel like a monster???  Last Monday, I felt like a monster.  Was I was reverting back? Was this the rest of my life? 

One big problem with “bad days”… left untamed and unbeaten, they can morph into “bad weeks”, “bad months,” a “bad life.”  Like the proverbial rolling snowball, you let it get going and before you know it, it’s starting an avalanche of the worst of me.  

The best time to beat back a bad day – as soon as you recognize you’re having one. 

So, for me and for you, let me share 5 ways to beat those nasty beasts back from whence they came:

1.Accept that “Bad Days” just happen.  They just are.   Imperfect you live in an imperfect world.  Rain falls on parades and even wedding days.  Clouds cold and ice linger.  (Some call this Chicago)   But as my coach and friend Bobb Biehl once told me, “You just gotta recognize it as a bad day.  It’s OK.  It’s not your reality.  Just a bad day.”   So, don’t sweat it, accept that not all days are your best and thank God that as sweet Scarlet once said, “Tomorrow is another day.” 

2. Ask God to light up your darkness.  Can’t hurt to ask, right?  Call it “prayer, ” call it “SOS,” or call it “Heaven Help me today!”   If the problem is “out there, ” then I must accept what I cannot control.  If the problem is “in here” (me, moi, the man in the mirror) then, “God please light up the dark me… Right now, I feel like a monster.” 

3. Act on what energizes you today.. or at least tomorrow.  If you’re doing things that drain you today and not what brings “flow,” “the zone,” or “the convergence,” seek to operate with your better skills tomorrow.  For me, I realize I have better days when I get to coach, write or share vision.  Guess what I didn’t do much of last Monday?  If you keep doing stuff that drains you and depletes your energy, guess what you’ll have?  More bad days.   Time to move towards doing more of what you do best. 

4. Advance someone else.   When you lead someone else up to a higher place, or push them to the top, guess what  happens to you?  You move up as well.  So, in the midst of a bad day, if you can encourage, accept, attend to or serve someone else, the pity party wanes and the day just seems to get better. Hmmm…

5. Answer the Call again.  Come back to your higher purpose.  If you have one, reread your Mission, Vision and Values statement.  Recall, “Oh yeah, this is why I’m here. This is what I’m doing.”   (If you don’t have one… create one!)  No, having a mission or purpose statement doesn’t make every day “peachy” and easy, but it sure helps to remind us we’re going somewhere good. “We’ve got a purpose.  We’re engaged in a bigger cause.  An adventure that ain’t over til its over.  And though I wish it weren’t true, “”I beg your pardon, no one ever promised us a rose garden.” 

Keep going!

www.JeffCaliguire.com