So you had a bad day.

(Photo from Anthropologie)

My day was not fantastique today. Sometimes things just frustrate me up a wall, and then I can dig myself into a little pit of bitterness, and not even a visit from Eddie Izzard bearing chocolate can pull me out of it.
But I’d rather not get myself into that funk, even if my day has not been 100% wonderful. After all, a bad day is part circumstance and part mindset, so even if I cant fix the situation I can change how I will deal with it, and how I will conduct myself for the rest of the day.
These are the things I try when I know its going to be a nasty-no-good-very-tricky-frustrating-teeth-gnashing sort of day.

1. Dress Well- I find it difficult to be completely unhappy or out of sorts when I feel put together and generally cute. Wear a hat, put on extra blush, wear your favorite earrings, spray your favorite perfume on a ribbon to wear in your hair. Its hard to be sad or frustrated when you feel like a million bucks.

2. Accept help- This is hard for me to do sometimes, without it feeling like I’m copping out, or that I’m somehow unable to handle it. While its true that I can handle things on my own, asking for help, and then accepting it, is often very good for me.

3. Do something fun- Read a book you love, take a long hot shower, watch a Say Yes to the Dress marathon, cook up a delicious new desert. Watch funny movies (might I recommend some Eddie Izzard stand up?). Have some fun, and don’t let yourself brood on the frustrating things.

4. Move!- Exercise, jump up and down, dance to the funkiest music you know, do a yoga pose, kick a soccer ball, do anything to get your heart beating and the endorphins releasing. But make sure its something you actually like. I will happily play on the Wii if I’m sad or stressed, but if I run around a track I’ll just get into an even darker mood.

5. Create- Write a furious, long winded complaint in your journal. Read it over a month later and wonder what all the fuss was about. Pretend to be Jackson Pollock, and fling paint at a canvas. Get clay all over your hands as your throw a bowl, or play music with all your soul.

6. Let yourself be sad, or frustrated, or angry with your day. Accept it, and then, when you wake up, resolve to have a better day then you did before!


How do you handle a bad day?