it was a crummy day…

it was a crummy day…

the terrible, no good, horrible very bad day

I was visiting my father at my childhood home and looking for a bedtime story for my children. I came across “Alexander and the Terrible, No Good, Horrible, Very Bad Day” by Judith Viorst. With a title like that, I couldn’t pass it up. You can pretty easily guess how the story goes…or you may remember it…let’s just say I had tears in my eyes I was laughing so hard!

Fast forward to just the other day. And my feeling of frustration was nothing to laugh at! My five-year-old was super difficult all morning. The camp schedule for the week was resulting in mom (that’s me) losing over two hours of work time each day, and a grumpy family member was causing background stress. Add to this the fact that I shifted anger for two clients the day before and was awakened for a few hours in the night to move anger and anxiety in my own system. The result…me feeling frustrated, irritated and out of control.

When nothing is going right, how can we break free of it?

Here is my time-tested process that I use in client sessions, programs, and in my own life.

1. Notice your emotions. Irritation is like the ‘check engine’ light in your car. It’s calling you to take a moment to stop and pay attention. Take just a few moments to tune into your body, take a few deep breaths, and ask what needs to be noticed/recognized?
2. Allow emotions to be there. It’s so easy to distract or try to talk ourselves out of our emotions. That can be useful after we’ve allowed them and given them permission to leave-but not before. Allow the emotion facetime, even if it’s unpleasant. Anger, grief, worry, anxiety, fear, sadness….whatever is coming up, give it permission to come up.
3. Let it go. Good riddance! Give the emotion permission to leave. Let it fly away. It may have been with you for a lifetime – but now is an opportunity to be lighter, free, more peaceful. Let it go.
4. Focus on anything positive. What are you grateful for right now? Gratitude journals can be helpful for being able to tap into gratitude even in hard moments. Find anything positive and allow it to shift your negative thoughts into positive ones. In the situation above, the positive lifeline I found to shift my day was focusing on having the flexibility to meet my family’s needs. And the opportunity to be free of old anger. And that got my day back on track.

Life won’t always go according to plan. Disruptions and stress will happen. There will be moments when we have no control. What we can control is how we respond to these challenges.

What will win the day is authenticity with an eye toward personal growth.

The process above serves both of these lofty goals.

And remember we’ve gotta cut ourselves some slack…some days we will get triggered, angry, stressed. That’s human. Remember this process and those moments can serve your highest good. To help you find a way back to balance.

If we openly acknowledge and allow energy to move (emotions, thoughts, feelings), we self-heal and leave our bodies stronger, lighter and more protected from disease and illness. 

If you are struggling to get your footing, come check out Elevate and join us for monthly healing, support, and wisdom. Learn more here.