You ever have one of those days where absolutely nothing seems to go right? You try to the make the best of a situation, but everything you do either gets shut down or makes the situation worse. I recently had one of those days myself. It started out rather poorly and went downhill from there. However, I have a new approach to days like these. As cliché as it may sound, “Count your blessings, say a prayer and move on.” Here’s what happened:

I have to preface this by saying I’m not normally a crabby person, but it doesn’t take much to irritate me, especially if I am already in a bad mood. Well I should have known when I woke up in a bad mood that the day wasn’t going to be one to remember. Strike one.

After waking up, I received a phone call in the middle of one of my classes with some rather upsetting news. It was nothing drastic or urgent, but I had been told to do one thing and now was being told to do the opposite. Of course, this change in plans irritated me even more than I already was. Strike two.

Later that day one of my classes was canceled. Great! Finally some good news! I could just take an hour to myself that I wouldn’t normally have. I thought I would lie down and take a nap, but every time I started to doze off, a noise jolted me awake. Again, this was nothing life-threatening – just another small annoyance that added to my negativity. It was strike three. I’m out.

When I have a day like this, I normally give up, pout for a while and try again the next day. This particular day, however, I took a different approach. I don’t really know why, but I started thinking about all the positives in my life that made these “problems” seem particularly petty. Having a family, health and great friends all made my mood that much better.

Feeling a bit calmer, I said a short prayer asking God for patience and some relaxation so I could continue my day free of worry. Believe it or not, the relief was almost instantaneous. I literally felt as though a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Who knew something so cliché could help as much as it did?

Thinking back on it, I hate bad days. Who enjoys them, though, right? Now I have a new way to approach them. Instead of letting a bad day get the best of me, I can skip all the crap, count my blessings, say a prayer and move on. Maybe it’ll work for you, too.

God Bless