We all have rough days – days when we would prefer to just give in, go home, and pull the covers over our heads. These come, they just do. Many times, those circumstances are out of our control. They happened to us. I can easily find myself getting angry and start ruminating on those bad aspects. I think of them over and over again. They fill my day and they flood my mind. It consumes my thoughts and takes over my entire attitude. That bad day can carry not just through that day, but spill over into many days. Even when I feel like I am over it, when I think of it, the anger comes right back. And I may be justifiably upset. But does it help to continue to let this fill my heart and my mind? Does it contribute to my overall wellbeing to allow this to become a part of me? Am I really doing anything advantageous by allowing this to consume me? I have a bad day, you have a bad day…now what?
Because we all have these rough days, how do we move forward? Instead of allowing this to overtake our heart, mind and spirit, maybe we consider our alternatives. What we are angry about – is it fixable? If it is, spring into action (not revenge but in productive action to better the situation without harm). If it is not, what have we learned that can help us to become better? If there is nothing to learn, what is it doing to us if we hold onto this? What are we accomplishing by allowing this to overtake us? What is good about carrying this bad day forward? The answer is likely…nothing. We probably instead find we are just being torn down by our thoughts and emotions. We are hurting ourselves. There has to be another way.
My best lesson for this comes from the Psalmists. I love the Psalms because they are raw, real, and shockingly honest. They write (or sing) about how they are angry and scared and overcome. They write about how they want to destroy and how they feel abandoned (by God and others). And yet…And yet…they find their way back to center. Where is their center? Read the Psalms. The center comes back to words like this: Deliverance belongs to the Lord, I will sleep in peace because the Lord brings peace, the Lord has heard my prayer, I will give thanks to the Lord for he is due, how majestic is Your name. These all come from just the first few Psalms. They go on to remind us of his mercy, his grace, and his everlasting love. They have the bad day, week, month, etc and yet…they find their way back to the center – the center of God, our Creator, the One who loves us more than we can imagine. That’s what matters. How can you come back to your center today?
May your day be filled with good things, May you find peace, May you be comforted and loved. And if you are having a rough day, May you find your center in God.
Psalm 13
1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I bear pain in my soul,
and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”;
my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
SEEING THE EXTRAORDINARY 