How to turn around a bad day

"It was one of those days," Sara said to me as she and some mutual friend ate dinner together. Without further explanation, we instinctively knew what type of day she was referring.

"It began early with a struggle getting our kids to their day's commitments and it went down hill from there."

We all nodded with empathy. We've all had them. A day that starts off bad and doesn't seem to get better as it progresses. One bad decision seems to lead to another and one negative circumstance seems to set us up for failure in the next situation. Before we know it, we find ourselves knee deep in negativity or swimming in, as Brendon Burchard calls it, a "pool of pessimism."

It's easy to get into a negative spiral of criticism and/or blame of ourselves or others.

And, if we're not careful, at times one bad day becomes a bad season of life when nothing seems to go as we would like.

What can be done? Are we simply the victims of circumstance left with little choice but to ride it out and hope for a better day tomorrow?

Or is there something we can do even in the midst of the bad day and begin to turn it from bad to good?

Even though it may feel like circumstances beyond your control have overwhelmed you, you still are left with a choice, an intention you can follow through on, to help shift the day from bad to good:

Aim to be kind

When we aim to share kindness, we set the intention to not only brighten someone else's day but also our own darkened by negativity. We begin to make the shift from negative to positive. We shift the focus from "look at me" to "look at you!", from "Woe is me" to "Whoa! Look at you!"

"Generosity" Drs. Robert Waldinger and Marc Shulz point out, "is an upward spiral." They write, "Research clearly shows that helping others benefits the one who helps. There is both a neural and practical link between generosity and happiness."

In the world of improvisation the principle is, "make someone else look good." In other words, when we're caught in fear and anxiety of not knowing what to say or do, the positive step forward is always choosing to make the people around us look good. Once done, we begin to move from fear to confidence, anxiety to peace, and negative stagnation to positive progress forward.

Today, set the intention to be kind whether it be a word of encouragement, a listening ear, a surprise gift, a thank you note, a visit, or any of a myriad ways kindness is expressed.

Remember, I'm pulling for you. We're in this together.