Bad days happen. As optimistic and upbeat as I try to be–sometimes I just seem to be stuck in a mucky, no-good, horrible day. The same thing happens for our children. And, the strange karmic reality is that sometimes when we start off a day on the wrong food (or the wrong side of the bed, as my grandmother used to say), we just seem to invite more of the same. It can be really tough to get out of the “bad day” rut and turn things around.
Humor can be extremely useful when one is having a bad day, and one of the hardest things to access. Teaching kids how to see the humor in everyday mishaps can be a great gift. It is possible to turn an icky day into at least a passable day, but it can take a shift in thinking and attitude. Not letting a bad day get you down can be much easier said than done, but it is possible.
When my kids were younger, we used to have some things we would say or do to break up a bad day. One thing I would say is “Let’s start this day all over again!” and we would run and get in our beds, cover up and lay there for a minute or so before getting up and pretending we were starting out first thing in the day. Just the drama and play-acting of “going to bed” and getting up all over again with the exaggerated rubbing of the eyes and stretching would be enough to inject a good dose of giggles in a grumpy day. If I was feeling particularly playful I might say something like, “remember what a bad day you had yesterday? Oh, this is sure to be a fabulous day for sure!”
Now, we just say something like, “Let’s start this day over” and make a mental focus on trying to get OUT of the crabby, horrible, no-good day mode and try to make some shifts. Focusing on little things that are going well helps, as does slowing things way down to a manageable energy level. Of course, some days just don’t go well. Thank goodness that tomorrow is a brand new day!
See Also: Yes, But You’re Still Eligible for Future Happiness