We’ve all had days that feel rotten from the moment we wake up. Maybe we’re dreading something later in the day or still ruminating on the previous night. Sometimes, there’s just a gloom that inexplicably descends upon us. On days like those, it can be hard to find a bright spot to hold on to, but the first step is remembering that a bad day is just that: one bad day.
Bill Withers’ buoyant song “Lovely Day” actually begins with his worry that the day will be just the opposite. “Something without warning, love, bears heavy on my mind,” he sings. But looking at his lover lifts his spirits: “The world’s alright with me / Just one look at you / And I know it’s gonna be / A lovely day.”
In many cases, we have the power to change our outlook with a small step in the right direction, whether that means surrounding ourselves with people we love, cracking a joke, or simply accepting that melancholy is a part of life and allowing it to pass in due time. A bad day is normal — and temporary.
Let these quotes take the sting out of your day the next time you wake up feeling “off.”
Humor is the great thing, the saving thing, after all. The minute it crops up, all our hardnesses yield, all our irritations and resentments flit away, and a sunny spirit takes their place.
sometimes you climb out of bed in the morning and you think, / I’m not going to make it, but you laugh inside / remembering all the times you’ve felt that way.
When the darkest clouds in the sky seem bent on hovering over me while everyone with whom I come into contact flashes a nasty scowl, I find some comfort in the thought of a fresh tomorrow. I am thankful for the opportunity to try again.
Being in a bad mood with your friends beats being in a bad mood without them.
Run the day or it will run you.
It’s hard to dance with a devil on your back / So shake him off.
Some days are just bad days, that’s all. You have to experience sadness to know happiness, and I remind myself that not every day is going to be a good day, that’s just the way it is!
Optimism isn’t a belief that things will automatically get better; it’s a conviction that we can make things better.
The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you.
Sorrow weighs my shoulders down / And trouble haunts my mind / But I know the present will not last / … / A brighter day is coming my way / Yes, tomorrow will be kinder.
Featured Image Credit: patpitchaya/ Shutterstock
Paola Bennet
Paola Bennet is a writer based in Brooklyn, NY. She writes a fortnightly newsletter that treasures the mundane, called Small Histories. Find her on Instagram @paolafbennet.
