How to Turn a Bad Day Around

The day was bad. There wasn’t one thing I could pinpoint. There were fifteen things that left me feeling like I had been splayed with a shotgun. A single bullet would have felt easier than these wounds that left me looking like swiss cheese.

Things were bad and I let everyone around me know it.

My kids were avoiding me. Dinner still had to get made. The house was a mess and all of the problems were still there. I hated it. And then I realized something needed to change.

I couldn’t change my circumstances. I couldn’t even change my mood, it was too far gone. But I could change the atmosphere.

When life has left me wounded and I can’t change anything about it, this is what I can do.

Music

It’s my first move toward change. Play something that uplifts you. You don’t even have to like it. I just let it play in the background of my mood and let it penetrate.

This is the first way to change a mood from the inside out. Play some worship. Play something that brings joy or speaks truth. Let it replenish your spirit.

Hug

I am a hugger. But when I’m mad, it doesn’t come easily for me. My husband will often put his arms around me in the middle of a fight. I always resist at first, but there is something about touch that grounds you to all that is good.

When things feel hard and the last thing you want is to put your arms around someone, try to push through it and embrace.

Laugh

Find something that brings joy. Not just a generic plastered smile, but something that really will make you laugh. Watch a funny You Tube video, tickle your kids, read a few jokes. This is different for everyone, but the release is the same. Think of it as re-wiring, re-circuiting the feelings to something better. It’s another step toward changing from the inside out.

Move

Just move your body. Dance around the kitchen or give the counters a good scrub. Walk around the block or a few flights of stairs. Using your muscles helps you relax, so find a way to move, even for a few minutes. When my table and counters are squeaky clean it’s a good indicator something was bugging me. Just keeping it real.

Pray

Sometimes this is truly last on my list. It’s not that I don’t want to pray, but sometimes I just need to exhale before I’m ready to talk to anyone, even God.

He’s there even when I’m not talking, so I’m good with that. But if I can get myself to a place to just acknowledge Him, He meets me. Every single time. He’ll meet you, too.

I made this great resource to help us pray in a hard season.

Sometimes we can’t change the hard things around us. We can’t control who is sick or the endless to-do list. We can’t stop a temper tantrum or a teen outburst.

We can change our atmosphere and let that change us from the inside out.