How I "Reset" When I'm Having a Bad Day

Do you ever just have one of those days when your routine gets thrown completely off from the start? Then, naturally, your whole attitude gets thrown off as well?

Let me tell you about one of my days like that. When my routine gets thrown off, it's usually "sink or swim" around here. Mondays are my grocery shopping days but I didn't make it to the store. I didn't get the food we needed to make supper tonight. I didn't get my husband's food for his lunch tomorrow.

Insert instant negative self-talk here. Words like "failure," and "hopeless" float around in my head as I tried to figure out when I would be able to go later in the day, when my husband would be home and we were usually supposed to be eating around that time.

The kids must have sensed my negative attitude also because they were pretty cranky too. Nap time? What's that? My oldest hasn't been doing so great with that part of the day these past few weeks. And normally, I don't mind that she sits up in her room playing, as long as she gets some rest and I do too. But I encouraged her to nap today due to the whining and the meltdowns we experienced. I knew it would help her (and me!) immensely. Yeah, she had a meltdown about that too......

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After I finally surrendered to just walking away, before I completely went into "momster" mode, I sat upstairs just listening to it from the playroom.

Insert more negative self-talk. "Failure." "Bad mom."

She did eventually quiet down and start playing instead of wailing. I went downstairs and did my nap time chores (dishes and laundry) and instantly started trying to figure out a way to turn my day around for everyone's sake.

So, what did I do?

I made myself coffee and grabbed my Bible.

Here, I will say it again.... I "grabbed. my. Bible."

I had already done my usual Bible study earlier in the morning, but I sensed God was telling me to do another one. Now, did I read some earth-shattering passage about loving your children or staying positive? Nope. In fact, I read a chapter out of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 3) that was all about names and rebuilding walls.

I looked up to God and said, "Really? This is what you wanted me to read today?"

But, as I read the passage, along with a commentary, it was brought to my attention that these people came together to accomplish something important. Well hey, that's good news!

Insert a little more positive thinking here.

After I read the passage, I read the First 5 study covering the reading. What an eye-opener. This image came from their "Opposition and Opportunity" study. Click here to check out their site. It's pretty great!

Wait, did God just tuck hope into this Bible study for me? Totally!

Now, consider my day on the mend!

God found a way to pull the "downer daisies" from my mind and plant some "positive peonies." (Yes, cheesy, but ya get the idea.) And all this happened during twenty minutes of my time; and it stuck with me the rest of the day.

So guess what? My kids woke up happy. My husband wasn't too upset that we may have to get takeout. We all got out of the house without any meltdowns or screaming about our clothes bothering us.

Some may say it was all a happy coincidence. I say it was God intervening when I needed Him. I think He was telling me to find Him in my Bible. He wanted me to surrender just a piece of my free time to Him so that He could help me out in return. And He did help me.

But, one more thing before I close up this post. What if I had given Him my whole day, rather than just a few minutes when I needed Him? What if I had adjusted my mindset from the very beginning, and in turn, realized that my problems were actually pretty small. I spent the whole morning thinking about myself and my internal drama fest, when I should have been joyful. Our Creator wants us to depend on Him. He gives us the choice, of course, but He wants us to choose Him. Every day. Every hour.

Don't be grumpy. Be grateful. Give thanks. A mindset shift could change your world, for the better.