© 2022 Rachel L. Shumate | All rights reserved.
The other day I had a Monday of a Monday. (That makes sense in my head; just roll with it.) I wasn’t just on the struggle bus… It plowed me over, backed up, threw me aboard, and nominated me to be the crazy-ass driver, haha.
My day started with an actual shit show. (I wish I was kidding.) I walked into the bathroom where we keep the litter box, and it looked like a cat crap confetti bomb had exploded within its four walls. The cat wasn’t in much better condition, so I kicked off the morning by giving a supremely pissed off Maya an impromptu bath because she had poop and kitty litter stuck all over her, and then I proceeded to clean the entire bathroom in which she had managed to fling poop 4.5 feet up the walls. (Seriously gross and slightly impressive…) The rest of the day was interspersed with other delightful things like being on hold for hours with various companies, because of fantastically irritating reasons. And the day ended with everyone having to use beach towels after their shower because every last bath towel in the entire house was still in the washing machine. Oops! Oh, and more cat poop fun. (What the heck kitty??!)
Was it a bad day? No. I admit that it wasn’t a particularly fabulous day (and there were occasional obscenities muttered under my breath), but it wasn’t bad. Instead of concentrating on all of the spectacularly crappy things that happened that day, I chose to enjoy the little things and celebrate my wins (regardless of how small those successes were). There were plenty of beautiful little moments mixed in with the super frustrating ones, and I wasn’t about to let those few (okay, several) bad instances suck the joy out of my day.
When everything seems like it’s going wrong and I feel like my personal struggle bus is careening out of control, I try to pause, take a few deep breaths, and attempt some coping methods to reframe my thinking and mood. I’m not saying it ALWAYS works, but it does help. I tend to get overwhelmed rather easily, and now that I recognize this, I find that doing the following things helps me quite a bit. I thought I’d share in case they might be helpful to you as well…
First, I take a deep breath and acknowledge that things are currently hard. I take a moment to allow myself to feel frustrated, angry, sad, etc. because feelings are human and suppressing or ignoring them isn’t healthy. I mull my feelings over, meaning that I name the emotions and reflect. I know that this is an important step because there’s a lot of toxic positivity floating around these days. However, I also know that sometimes I can personally let negative emotions spiral out of control, so once I feel like it’s time to cheer myself up, I do one or more of these:
- I go take a break. It can be quick or extended.
- I turn up some music and dance.
- I go for a walk, or hike.
- I do a quick yoga routine.
- I say a prayer or two (or ten).
- I go outside.
- I call a friend or family member just to chat (or vent).
- I do something creative.
- I watch an episode of “Friends” because it never fails to make me laugh.
- I read a funny book.
- I meditate for five minutes.
- I snuggle my kitty (as long as she isn’t covered in poop, haha).
- I write in my journal.
- If I feel like I need to, I take an additional dose of my prescribed anxiety medication.
So next time life is throwing you a struggle bus party with cat crap confetti, maybe you can use my list for a little inspiration to help elevate your mood, thoughts, frequency, vibration, whatever you want to call it. Don’t let unpleasant moments ruin your whole day. Reframe your mindset, and treat yourself to a break, and/or something that you enjoy.
As women, I think we fail to do this all too often. We are strong and awesome, and we sure the heck won’t throw in the towel when life gets hard (unless it’s into the dryer, we should try to remember to do that), but sometimes we just need to give ourselves an ever-love’n timeout. And yes; I’m one of those women too! I’m thinking… maybe if we keep reminding ourselves (and each other) that it’s okay to take a break and stop trying to do ALL the things ALL the time, thriving will become the new normal instead of the seemingly constant need for coping. And we can tell the struggle bus to go permanently park itself at the junk yard.
PS: Please note that I’m not a life coach or any other kind of licensed professional. I’m simply sharing tips and tricks that work for me on hard days. If you’re struggling with something bigger, or are having a life crisis, please seek help. (And know that I’ve just given you a virtual hug.)
🙂
