Not Every Day is a Good Day

Not every day is a good day. Some days are just hard. There are days that are dark. And yesterday was one of them for me.

Not everything is a shiny Instagram filter

In the social media world we live in, it’s easy to think every day has to be amazing and just the best day ever!!! Take a look at any Instagram page or SnapChat and you will believe everyone everywhere has an amazing, wonderful, exciting life. It can make one start to think that every day has to be post worthy and living within the perfect filter.

Well, in the real world, it’s not like that. Some days are dark. Some days really stink. And that is ok.

Yesterday was a dark day. I won’t say I have these kinds of days frequently, but they do rear their ugly heads from time to time. And when they rear their ugly heads, it can be unnerving. The mean girl in my head is very loud and I feel like just about everything in my life is a joke. I focus on every negative thought and feeling about myself and feel like I am a total loser.

You might ask what happened to bring on these feelings? The answer is nothing in particular. Some days just take on a darkness, regardless of how sunny your other days may be.

I know I’m not alone in these feelings. Anyone who is honest will admit they’ve been there with that mean girl (or boy) loudly tearing them down. We hear the critical things the mean voice says, letting it infiltrate us and take over our brains. We even start to believe the mean voice and the day gets dark.

What did I do?

On this latest dark day, how did I handle it? How does anyone handle a day that isn’t so great? First, I acknowledged that it was not a good day. Just saying it out loud is sometimes enough to make it go away. Sometimes it doesn’t.

Next, I reached out. I called my sister. This takes courage because it is admittance that I am not perfect. In fact, I am far from perfect. But reaching out is what I needed to do and luckily I had the courage to do it.

I am grateful I have a sister who is completely and totally supportive of me. She dropped what she was doing and came over. This led to the next thing I needed to do to vanquish the mean girl on this particular dark day. I voiced what was bothering me to my sister. In doing this, in saying out loud the fears and negative aspects of my life that were weighing on me this particular day, it helped to put them in perspective. These negative thoughts were not just going to magically go away, but voicing them to someone who supports me and receiving the positive words she said definitely helped.

I had commitments later during this dark day that I had to attend. I had to make myself go and put the voice out of my head as best I could. But, having somewhere to be and immersing myself in an activity that fills my brain with something other than the mean girl was good. By the time the day was at an end, I was satisfied I had overcome the mean girl this time and hoped she wouldn’t make an appearance again for awhile. I hoped the next dark day would be very far in the future.

What’s Next?

So, what is the point? What I want you to know if you are reading this, is that you are not alone. You are not alone in having a dark day or hearing that mean girl in your head and letting it get to you. Reach out and know your dark day WILL end. Scarlett O’Hara was pretty smart in saying tomorrow is another day. Tomorrow IS another day. Embrace your dark days, knowing a sunny day is right around the corner.