The ONE Thing To Say Out Loud If You're Having A Crappy Day

How often do you run into situations that are really frustrating and just bring you down? The kind of thing that has you tempted to curse or stamp your foot. 

Like when you’re running late to a meeting and you spill coffee on your shirt. And then you find out that you forgot to pay an important bill (even though there’s money in your account), and you've run out of dog food at home, so you have to make another stop before the day is over.  

I’m guessing that you have had more than a few of those kinds of days. The key is this... What do you do when everything seems to be blowing up (or falling down) around you?

I was recently listening to the audio book "You Are A Badass" by Jen Sincero. It’s great and she has a lot of wonderful things to say. I was listening on my iPad while I was making an appetizer, so my attention was split between her words and chopping vegetables. 

And then she said something that made me put down my knife, (chopping, remember?), press rewind, and seriously pay attention. She was talking about having "one of those days" and went on to say "This is good because…"

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The phrase caught my attention right away. I’m generally a positive person, and I’m pretty skilled at seeing the "silver lining" in the cloud, so this wasn’t a completely new concept. 

What really blew me away was the power of the affirmative statement, "This IS good because…", not "This might be okay because..." or "This will be okay because...", or any other trying-to-see-the-good phrase. 

This was a full-blown "own it, be it, live it" kind of statement. There was no try.  Just, this IS good. 

It can be very challenging to shift our perspective, especially when we encounter obstacles or delays. 

Much of the time our efforts to think differently are half-heartened. We aren’t convinced that there’s an upside to what’s going on. And the more problematic or intense the situation, the harder it is to "look on the bright side" because there just doesn’t seem to be one.

And yet, every coin has two sides. It’s the yin and yang of our existence. There’s always another point of view, even when we can’t see past what’s right in front of us. 

The trick is to get outside of the situation, or above — to tap into the meta-view that isn’t blocked by our emotions. 

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Take a stand by saying "This IS good because" and then challenge yourself to actively answer with the truth. 

You might find that you struggle a bit, and that’s fine. The automatic denial or the "No, it really isn’t good" is the measure of how entrenched you are in that moment. 

Remember that happiness is a choice, so find the good. It’s there, right alongside the frustrating, the upsetting, the bad.

This is more than a positive spin. This is an exercise in taking charge of your perspective, your happiness, your life. 

This is stepping into the power of the moment and understanding that your vision is determined by what you choose to see. 

So, go ahead, be bold. Be courageous. Finish the sentence, from your heart — "This IS good because…"

Kristina Hallett is a psychologist and shaman at Wisdom Healing. If you are looking to say "YES, this IS good" in your life, contact Kristina by clicking here.