HOW I TURNED A BAD DAY INTO A GREAT DAY, AND YOU CAN TOO
“Stick with the situation at hand, and ask, ‘Why is this so unbearable? Why can’t I endure it?’ You’ll be embarrassed to answer.”
WHAT
You can choose to make a bad day into a good day.
No magic.
No secret.
Just, a decision.
Decide to end the cycle of anger.
Decide to accept the pain, and reduce the suffering.
Decide to pause, reset, and engage the world again.
WHY
I had a “bad” day.
Everything slightly negative seemed amplified.
Creating a vicious cycle of stressors who feed themselves.
I was impatient.
I was jumpy.
I was angry.
And then, I decided I had enough.
My surroundings had enough (passive aggressive much?)
So I stopped.
Everything.
I stopped everything, sat down at the edge of the bed, and journaled.
I didn’t know how to start.
But I did.
I journaled, and wrote everything that made me angry.
And also things I was grateful for.
After 30 minutes, I was done.
Funnily enough, most things I was angry at were related to me, and not others.
I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my chest.
And I realized what the Stoics meant, by saying we suffer mostly because of our own judgements and perception.
After that, the day was great.
I had a great time with my family, got a lot done.
And maybe more important, I learned my lesson.
Finally, after all the reading, writing, thinking, about Stoics and their approach to peace of mind.
Finally, I got to apply all of it.
Finally, I was a Stoic for a few minutes.
HOW
Finding the good in bad days and the bad in good days requires a shift in perspective.
To do so, try the following:
Practice gratitude: Take time each day to reflect on the things you're grateful for, no matter how small they may seem.
Look for the opportunity: In every difficult situation, try to find the opportunity or the lesson to be learned.
Focus on what you can control: Instead of dwelling on things outside of your control, focus on the things you can control and take action to make positive change.
Be explicit: review what you are angry about, you might be surprised
Journal: all of the above can be practiced by journaling - write self reviews and crystalize your thoughts and experiences.
At the end of the day, it’s about acceptance.
Accept that your off your game today.
Accept that whatever happened happened (and couldn’t have happened any other way).
Accept whatever is to come (Amor Fati)
Takeaways
Finding the yin in yang (and vice versa) can help us maintain equanimity.
In the face of adversity, we can choose to find the light in the darkness (looking at you “the obstacle is the way”).
And in times where everything seems to work out, we can choose to remember how fragile happiness is.
So next time you have a bad day, or night, remember:
It’s ok to have bad days, you are not broken.
You can stop and choose to turn the darkness into light
Journaling is a great tool to clean up your thoughts and refresh your day
