Bad Days

We all have bad days from time to time. You know the way a day starts out bad and just keeps getting worse and worse. It seems to snowball into a really bad day. Usually it starts with one negative event and then one leads to another. In this case, an early negative event put me in a bad frame of mind and I was so busy thinking about the negative events that I missed all the good and positive things that happened to me that day. I think it is a triggered stress response for me.

There are several things I do to drag myself out of these stressful times.

1. I talk to a good friend who is an excellent listener and who can always help me see the positive and he always makes me smile.

2. I try to look at it as a challenge, not a threat. And when I do that my feeling of being overwhelmed seems to vanish.

3. I Count my blessings. I try to name at least 5 things that I am grateful for.

4. I eat chocolate.

5. Lastly, I take a mini break go out in back of my house drink my coffee and watch the river flow by. It is so peaceful and quiet it always calms me down.

Hmmmm......perhaps I should take a closer look at these five things. First, I actually have a 'good friend'. How lucky is that!? Actually, on closer examination, I find that I have several very good, dependable friends. Not to mention my wonderful kids and grandkids.

Secondly, Lord knows that I have constantly faced challenges in my daily life. And, I usually come out OK in that area too. Certainly, this is not unique to my situation; however, it does seem to help me face them if I make a concerted effort to meet them head-on and not 'sweep them under the rug'.

Next, I realize that I have many 'blessings' to count. One reason that I have temporally given up watching the news is that I was constantly bombarded with a seemingly endless stream of stories of hopelessness. Wow! that can certainly ruin your day!. On closer inspection, and comparing my daily life with some others that I could go on and on about, I am doing great!

I eat chocolate. Now, what can be said about this? Eating chocolate is an art form. There is nothing simple about it. One must, and I have made a comprehensive and thorough study of this over a lifetime of trials, one must take the eating of chocolate seriously. Chocolate is always 'nibbled', never 'chewed' and every effort must be taken to allow the taste buds to awaken slowly and savor the intimate, yet delicate taste that is chocolate. I could write paragraphs about this experience. Opps! I just did!

Lastly, what's not to love about watching the river flow by? Or watching the critters go about their daily chores with their existence. I would actually miss my ongoing war with the chipmunks stealing all the sunflower seeds out of the bird feeder if I didn't have it to 'worry about'. And, I find it very calming to watch the mother geese leading their goslings in circles around the river. Never mind that they revel in using my backyard as their own private outhouse! Watch where you step!

Does any of this help me to get rid of my daily blues? You bet it does! I'm in a better mood already! And I bet that we all have a 'river' to go out and watch. We only have to look for it.