Do you ever have those days when everything seems to go wrong? Well yesterday was one of those days for me. I went to bed excited to go for a snowy run but I woke up with a massive blister from skiing the day before. I tried to put my shoes on but the pain was too much to try and go for a run. I then proceeded to take my parent’s dog to the groomers only to have them cut his nails too short so that when we got in the car he started bleeding all over my seat. En route to take him home my low tire pressure light came on. By the time I made it to the store I had a flat tire. But wait there’s more! Since my spare tire was over ten years old it was against their policy to put it on my car. After a few hours of dealing with that I was able to finally head home. As I stopped to fill up on gas, with snow falling all around me, the clip to keep the gas pumping fell off. This meant that I had to stand in the 18 degree weather waiting for what seemed like an eternity for my tank to fill up. Yet despite all these things happening to me, I genuinely didn’t have a bad day. Why? One word: PERSPECTIVE.
It’s no doubt that any one of these occurrences could have made me have a ‘bad day’. Yet instead of dwelling of what happened I remembered the power of perspective. Sure I woke up feeling sore and in pain but that’s only because I am fortunate enough to get the opportunity to go skiing with my parents. Between my dog getting blood on the seat and getting a flat tire, it’s no doubt that yesterday was a bit rough for my car. But I couldn’t help but think how lucky I am to even have a car! And while I may have had to stand outside for a few extra minutes to fill up my tank, I was able to come home to a heated house with food on the table.
Whenever I take a step back to look at my ‘problems’ I realize that they usually aren’t problems at all. Instead they are simply bumps in the road and I can choose how to react to them. Yet I don’t want to discredit any troubles or issues I may have because I am more fortunate than so many people on this earth. Right now I don’t have a job and I have loan payments that seem like they’ll never end. And while I am blessed to even have loan payments from school, they still cause me stress and anxiety.
It can be easy to forget how fortunate we are and simply tune out the rest of the world. It wasn’t until I traveled to India two years ago that the idea of perspective truly sunk in. I saw poverty like never before and became aware of just how common human trafficking is in this world. These are issues that affect people all over world. They rule their lives and I cannot even fathom having to go days without food or water. When we don’t see these issues staring us right in the face it can be difficult to conceptualize that there are people who genuinely face them each and every day.
My issues still matter and I believe it is okay to feel like you’re having a bad day when things
don’t go as planned. But I do have a challenge for you. Next time you feel frustrated and overwhelmed when you’re having a bad day, take a step back and add some perspective to your situation. Ask yourself, “ will this really matter in long run? What benefit does getting angry add to my day?”. You may be surprised how silly some of your frustrations turn out to be.
It’s OKAY to get angry when you drop your phone or spill your coffee. Just remember to add some perspective to your daily life. You have the power to choose how to react when things don’t go as planned. If you choose to let every little mishap frustrate you it will be pretty easy to have a bad day. But if you focus on not sweating the small stuff you’re bound to have a more joyful day all thanks to a little perspective.