Are you having a bad day?
A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day?
Someone recently commented on Facebook that they were ‘fed up’. One of their ‘friends’ replied, “Mondays are like that.” We do get fed up, don’t we? What makes you sometimes ‘fed up’? Sometimes I get ‘fed up’ when I constantly forget things or make mistakes I have to correct. Oh, I could probably make a long list and so could you. But let’s not, okay? Let’s hit the fast forward button to whatever situation bugs us today and see beyond it to another reality:
Are your kids complaining driving you crazy? It won’t be long before there is complete silence in the house and you’ll long for their presence.
Don’t like what you have to eat? Millions would love to have anything to feed their family!
Do your legs hurt? There is someone out there who would love to have legs! (I was convicted of this once as I was whining to myself about my thrombosis and came upon a man stumbling down the sidewalk with one leg and a crutch.)
Depressed about your retirement savings? Many people in the world have to work their entire life with little hope of rest.
You know, my mom used to say things like this. Probably yours did too. But it turns out mom was right! Of course, there are sometimes much more serious problems that make for a bad day or continuously bad years!
But regardless of the depth of our pain and sorrows we all have to ‘choose this day’ how we’re going to get through it. We can either curse the darkness or light a candle. One such light for not letting bad days defeat you is to find a reason to be thankful. You might be having a bad day, but at least you are having a day! Believe it or not, some would love to have your day. It might not be the day you wanted it to be, but it is your day to live. How this was confirmed in my journey through leukemia. You probably have seen people persist through severe pain and grief because they chose thankfulness and hope over resentment and despair.
The way we live out our bad days will either steal our joy and crush our spirit or it will strengthen us and encourage us with a reminder of what is good. It will either drive us to despair or help us to hope. And the way we live out our bad days affects others too. Grumpiness and thankfulness are both contagious. Don’t let your circumstances make it a bad day. Talk to God about it and choose a thankful alternative.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” – Philippians 4:6