Reframing--How to Turn a Bad Day Into a Good Day!

Bad Days.

We all have them.

Sometimes we have a series of them.

The other day, my husband had a doozy!

We bought a desk in one community and decide to donate a couch to a charity in another town. So, he rented a truck. Everything went well until he got home with the truck.

The desk wouldn’t fit through our doors.

The couch was too heavy for us to lift into the truck.

It started to rain.

His car ran out of gas when he was on his way to get help to get the couch into the truck.

When all of this was finally resolved, he took an antihistamine that kept him up all night.

When you have a day like this, and we have all had them, one of the best ways to get through it is to reframe it. And, sometimes it helps to have someone help you do it.

What is Reframing?

It is seeing an event or a problem in a different light. You do this by either by finding the good within the event—or thinking of what the event was not.

Desk doesn’t fit? It is safely in the garage. We’ll figure it out later.

Car ran out of gas? Gas is cheap. It could have needed a major repair.

Up all night? You got a lot done. And, you can go to bed early tomorrow.

This is easy to do for someone else. Much harder to do for yourself. But, when you are alone and finding yourself feeling sad or mad about the day’s events, ask yourself these questions:

  1. Is there anything good within this?

  2. Would I rather have had this happen than something else equally probable and worse?

  3. Is this a quickly passing event?

  4. Will I remember this a year from now?

  5. Is there a lesson in this event somewhere?

Ask yourself these questions. Look at how temporary the bad event is and see if you can neutralize it with the good.

Lastly, think of what you are thankful for. What good is happening in your life right now? What can you thank God for? Your family? Your health? Your faith?

In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Bad day? Reframe—and then give thanks