Bad Day Blues: Overcoming Today’s Funk
Bad days — I wish they didn’t exist, but unfortunately… they do.
Today was one of those days for me. The weather was cold and gloomy, my mood was a complete 180 degree shift from my normal bubbly self, and I felt really stressed, anxious, and overwhelmed the entire day. I know these kinds of days are bound to happen, but they’re still frustrating nonetheless.
How do you recover from a bad day?
Here are a couple mood boosting, bad day recovery strategies that work for me.
Take a drive. During my work week lunch breaks, I usually buzz out and drive home to let the dog out. Especially on the days when I’m having a bad day, I’ll jump in my car at lunch time, roll the window down, crank up the music, sing along, and drive. There’s something about good old fresh air that puts a spring back into my step. And Mogul is always happy to see me at lunch time too. Such a win-win!
Listen to music. Listening to music has always been the golden ticket for me. When I got home from work tonight, I fired up Spotify and sang along to some songs from my “songs released in 2018: j.brandl faves” playlist. You can listen to the whole playlist on Spotify, but here are some of the songs that helped move me out of today’s funk:
Forget to Forget, SHY Martin
Take You Home, Cassadee Pope
Back To You, Selena Gomez
no tears left to cry, Ariana Grande
Growing Pains, Alessia Cara
Babe, Sugarland, Taylor Swift
Downtown’s Dead, Sam Hunt
Tequila, Dan + Shay
Coming Home, Keith Urban, Julia Michaels
Nothing to Regret, Robinson
Want You Back, 5 Seconds of Summer
Burn the House Down, AJR
The Middle, Zedd, Maren Morris, Grey
Programs, Mac Miller
Lose My Cool, DNCE
In My Blood, Shawn Mendes
Wait, Maroon 5
2002, Anne-Marie
Just A Little, Violet Days
Fever, The Pressure Kids
Costume Party, Lauren Duski
Agenda, Emma Blackery
Write it out. There’s nothing quite like a good writing session. Writing is a good way to express feelings and emotions that would otherwise stay bottled up. I’m not good at keeping feelings and emotions bottled up on a good day, so I definitely have to get them out on a bad day. Even something as simple as writing this post has been good for me today.
Shed a tear or two. I think this goes without saying. When stress, anxiety, and pressure builds within me, sometimes the first thing I do is shed a tear. It might be a single tear. It might be a few tears. But I always feel better after they fall. PSA: Never be embarrassed for being emotional; we’re all human and we all have our breaking points!
Remember that tomorrow is a new day. Truth is, bad days happen for everyone. And they pass with time. Today’s rainstorm is only temporary; tomorrow, the skies will be blue and filled with sweet sunshine.
The last song I listened to tonight while wrapping up and editing this post was Clearly by Grace VanderWaal. Sort of ironic as it’s a song about overcoming anxiety, being resilient and positive, and searching for and finding the bright side of things.
“All the pain in my sorrow
Won’t change today, only ruin tomorrow”
I’m going to get some sleep, hit reset, take my own advice, and remember…
Tomorrow is a new day!
JB