How To Salvage A Bad Day In About 30 Minutes
My dad used to say, "if it's an evil day, call it an evil day." When he first said it, I wasn't exactly sure what he meant by that. He often said things in strange ways that took me several years to fully interpret. Over time, I realize he meant some days just aren't gonna be great. Do you best and move the heck on.
I see the wisdom in that. Sometimes, we get more upset that we're upset than over the thing that upset us. ...That sound like something my dad would've said that I needed to years to unravel. ;) I jest.
At the same time, more often than not we can make our "bad day" better--at least a little bit. I've found very often it's very small things that can have the biggest impact. Next time you feel plagued with a bad day, check a few of these off of your to-do list:
Take a walk. Yeah. Just walk. Walk for 30 minutes to an hour if you can. But if you've only got 10 minutes. Go. Just moving your body and getting some fresh air is almost shockingly efficient in improving your outlook.
Make your next meal extraordinarily healthy--bonus points if you make it yourself. I think we underestimate what a difference eating well can make. As someone who has experienced both sides of the spectrum, let me tell you it is like night and day. You feel better because you can think more clearly and you get a mood boost. Plus, the process of preparing a meal gets your mind off what's troubling you and becomes meditative.
Dance. Yeah, laugh if you'd like. However, there's nothing like stopping in the middle of the day, turning on a favorite song, and dancing like everyone's watching, but only cuz you're really good at it, and either way you don't care. ;) Get the endorphins flowing. During the quarantine, I've been doing a whole lot of this to keep myself grounded.
Get off of social media and go outside. Nature is healing, as aforementioned. But also, when you're already feeling down the last thing you need to do is start mindlessly scrolling thru social media and comparing yourself to people who seem like they have it all together. (P.S.: They don't.)
If you don't already, start a gratitude journal. It's a strange truth, but when you focus on what you have to be grateful for--and do your best to FEEL it, don't just SAY it--you'll get a lift. Also, and I don't know why, but it often seems that you'll find you have more to be grateful for.
These are just a few of my go-to's when I need to re-boot my day. Any others you'd add? Let us know in the comments below. We love to hear from you!
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