I used to be a rabid pessimist. I was like a cloud; when I disappeared, it was a beautiful day. XD Now, I’m a rabid optimist with a smile on my face I won’t apologize for. You could say I am a joy freak. But at least I’m no longer the depression freak.

Go ahead and imagine your last bad day.

You’ve woken up late and had a humiliating time at where you were supposed to be.

Or perhaps everything was going great and you were convinced nothing could go wrong; until you made a big mistake and got called out in front of a bunch of people.

Maybe things are more serious; it’s been a drag the whole day long and you end up sobbing in your bed, literally wishing you could die.

Or maybe you’re in a battle for your health and you find out what you thought was gone forever just flared back up again.

I’ve been through all of these bad day scenarios and more. But the thing is, bad days are inevitable—aren’t they?

Aren’t they?

Great news: No. They aren’t.

Opportunities for bad days are inevitable. Seriously; they’re all over the place! But did you know that you ultimately decide how you’re going to look at your day?

Turning any bad day around into a great one is ridiculously simple with this one trick that has literally changed my life.

STOP COMPLAINING AND START THANKING

Really? That’s your big game-changer? Save the annoying thankful posts for November, please.

Nope. That’s not what I said.

• In literally every situation in life, there is something God’s given you to be thankful for. Even if you’re not a Christian; God sends His blessings on the just and the unjust.

Three years ago, I was the rabid pessimist people would look at with a look that said I think she has issues. And it wasn’t because my parents had some humungous divorce or I dealt with major self-doubt or had social anxiety, because none of those things happened.

It was simply because I saw everything through a negative lens.

• #PATHETIC..

So overly pathetic that it gets its own bullet point and hashtag.

Looking back three years ago, I don’t look back and think those were bad days. I miss those days! Those were great days! Those were awesome days! Like I’d-step-into-a-time-machine-and-relive-those days! So why couldn’t I see it at the time? Take a guess.

You got it. I was complaining. All day long.

• To complain, you have to focus on the negative. And that’s literally what I did. Despite being a cloud myself, I’d find one for every silver lining. ? where is my facepalm emoji

FOR EXAMPLE:

CIRCUMSTANCE: November something, 2015. The weather outside is beautiful. The wind is blowing, the sun is shining, and I’m walking out of dance class with an iPhone 6 in hand listening to some of my favorite music.

WHAT’S COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH: I hate Florida. I hate today. Every tree is an evergreen here. The leaves aren’t changing colors. It’s not cold enough to drink apple cider. I hate my life.

Sounds pretty darn ridiculous, doesn’t it? Like how dumb can a person get and still breathe?

That’s literally how pathetic I was. I DON’T KNOW HOW PEOPLE STOOD ME. Like I seriously couldn’t take my eyes off of myself and my selfishness for one single day?? Somebody call up that facepalm emoji.

When you take your eyes off of the negative and focus on the positive, you’re not in self-denial of your issues. You’re simply denying that you have to deal with them like a regular human being, ’cause you don’t.

• God didn’t make you regular. If you’re a born-again believer, you have the authority inside of you to not let any circumstance define your day for you.

Alright, so we get that, Madi. That example is pretty common and being negative there would be pretty pathetic. What about someone who is fighting for their life in a hospital?

OH, BUT WE DIDN’T STOP THERE!

The daughter of my pastor lived for 18 years with an illness called cystic fibrosis, a lung disease. The doctors didn’t expect her to live past a few months, but she proved them wrong. They didn’t expect her to live past four years old, but she proved them wrong again.

Whenever you asked her how she was doing, she would respond, “I’m great!”

And she was not great. She didn’t even believe she was going to die. But that was her response whenever you asked her how she was. You could never get her to say that she was not great, and she was battling for her life to the point of having to be put on oxygen to even breathe.

She understood that she didn’t have to have a bad day just because the circumstances around her were deadly. The joy of the Lord was her strength to the moment she died in my pastor’s arms on Christmas day, 2003.

TAKEWAY:

• There is always something positive to focus on in literally every situation.

• No matter what it feels like, focus on those positive things.

You can start with small things like even though I’m tired of all this snow, I’m so warm with my space heater. This hot chocolate tastes amazing. I’m reading such a good book. Small things are really the kicker for me.

• If you catch yourself complaining, do yourself a favor and tape your mouth shut until you decide to release words into the atmosphere the devil and his crowd can’t stand.

Things like man, God is awesome. He has such amazing things planned for me. The devil is such an idiot. I think I’ll go squeeze those lemons that life gave me right in his eyes…

Heh heh.

(Speaking from personal experience, this is really, really fun. Makes me giddy just thinking about it. And as soon as I hit the publish button on this post, I get to do it again. >:D)

CONCLUSION

The reason I never have a bad day is not because circumstances have or haven’t changed. I decided to thank God for what He’s given me despite my circumstances; humiliating days, days where I’m battling for my health, days where I have every opportunity to deem it a bad day. And the more I focused on the positive, the less of a hold negativity had on my life.

“Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!”

You said it, Nehemiah.

If the next opportunity for a bad day presents itself and thinks it can get you down, make sure it’s in for a rude awakening.

What’s your favorite way to turn a bad day around instantly?