How to Think Positively on a Really Bad Day

The 21^st Century has been a deluge of “how to think Positive” books, affirmations, cute facebook pics and more.  But the truth of the matter is, on a really bad day, it is really hard to shake. Why?  Because our thoughts are just the outer experience to our heart and our emotions.  If you dig under all of your negative thinking on a bad day, you will find the emotion connected to it.  Sometimes it’s sadness.  Sometimes it’s fear.  Or maybe it’s the feeling of being out of control of a situation.  When we have a bad day we often feel powerless over something.  So, the first thing to do is figure out where we have lost our power and work to fix it.  See what it is and see if you can take back your power!

Next, whatever it is, you have to look at the emotion connected to your BAD DAY, and acknowledge it! If you are sad, you can’t just say “Poof, I am happy! “But you can say, “I am sad now, but I am willing to look at why I am sad, try to fix it and then change my mood. What can I do to do help myself?”  The affirmations and happy pics are great jumpstarts to changing your mood. They also work as reminders of what it feels like to be happy or in control.  But they will not work if you are in denial about why you are having a bad day in the first place!

So here is your recipe for fixing a bad day!

1. Take an emotional inventory to see what you are feeling, not just what you are thinking.

2. See if there is anyplace where you feel you have lost control?

3. See if there is anything you can do to fix the issue, or the feeling of loss of control.

4. Take action to change it, or accept that you can’t change it!

5. Add a happy affirmation, or quote to kickstart the new feelings of peace.

6. Write down your own affirmation that brings you happiness. Or take out that picture that makes you smile. Or call a friend that makes you laugh.  Or just talk to someone about the feelings you have!

We have a great saying in Therapy…”When you make the subconscious conscious it can go way!”

Happy Journey to Self!

Shauna