Some days aren't diamonds

Some days the words don’t come, the water won’t boil and the traffic lights are all red.

These are the days when your coffee goes cold before you finish it. There are good things happening but you just can’t seem to appreciate them.

When all you can see are the bills and the work and you forget that there are things you love about what you do.

These are the days that the comfortable jeans suddenly seem too tight, or the tag in your favourite top start to dig into your neck. Usually those things haven’t change and it’s just that, for some weird reason, you just can’t get ‘on top’ today.

You wake up and see the day….showering, getting dressed, getting the kids dressed and fed. Dealing with life and all the chores. The floor needs vacuuming again. Surely I did that just the other day. Does it ever stop?

How can I do anything fabulous when there are so many things to do just to keep everything happening?

Cleaning, washing, bills, picking up after everyone, planning dinners, planning weekends, planning playdates and activities. Grocery shopping, dinner, dishes. Bother – I forgot about exercise! Don’t forget to fit in exercise!

Make sure you read with the kids, spend time playing at their level, be mindful, don’t forget they get too much technology time. Catch up with your friends and be there for your family. Be a good person, a good friend, a good wife and a good mother.

How do people find time to be anything else? Do you give up on being a good friend or a good mother? Maybe it is giving up on sleep that allows us to be all to everyone. That’s a problem for me; I don’t work well without sleep. These flat days usually follow a night where there was not much sleep.

When I don’t sleep I wake up feeling overwhelmed by life. My brain is too tired to function on the usual level and every single task becomes a hurdle to overcome.

The answer for me is to get moving, to just start something – anything – which engages me and cuts through that inertia. Filing is a great one for me (!?!) I get the music playing and I sort through the papers and put them into the correct files. I don’t make decisions, I don’t have to think, and slowly my big pile of papers becomes ordered. Tick. DONE!

Don’t try to be creative or charming on these days, using words on a day like today is a waste of effort. They come out jumbled or just as flat as your mood.

Some days it’s just wise to not be around people. It’s too hard to be nice when you feel like you aren’t coping. It’s hard to put on the social veneer that we all use and say ‘I’m fine’.

I wonder if we need these days to balance out the sunshine days…or if they are just my sub-conscious making sure I get our filing done.

When I have these days I remind myself that (so long as they don’t happen very often) then it’s OK to have a down day. Everyone has them, they just don’t put them on their Facebook page. It’s my bodies way of saying ‘look after me too.’

On these days you need to be kind to yourself, eat chocolate and drink wine, have a chat with a true friend, a good cry or maybe a soak in the bath. Do some chores and cross them off your list with a flourish and fanfare. Do something to make those happy hormones kick in…..shake it off….and let’s get through this!

And then tomorrow….is a brand new day.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.com

47 Comments

- - dee lindsay said
  - 14 Sep 2015
    2:13 pm
This is so true and with the economy the way it is, our incomes don’t seem to cover all our expenses, but we always seem to get through each day.

I sit here reading everyone’s stories, and find that yes, all the lights are red, when you are getting the spare tyre fixed, you will get a flat, or when you think you have enough petrol you will run out 2kms short of the garage.

Then, you get home, have dinner, go to bed and wake up the next morning – the sun is shining, everything goes well and everything is back to normal. Someone will do something like give you the car park that you both were driving into, or a man will open a door for you and you restore your faith in people.

A friend of mine always tells me that if I am having one of those days, look up to the sky, take a deep breath, then go on with your day. It does work.

love and hugs and I wish you all happiness every single day. xx
- Lucas' Mum replied
  
  14 Sep 2015 , 10:14 pm
  Love that – it’s about taking time to put a circuit breaker in the day. Deep breathe, look up and accept that not all days are diamonds, and also that a bad morning doesn’t always mean a bad day.
- - rovermum said
  - 14 Sep 2015
    9:31 am
I absolutely agree, we all have these days and you do just need to be kind to yourself. Acknowledge things have not started well or are not going well, and that they will pick up from here.

- - Missey Grace said
  - 13 Sep 2015
    4:58 pm
Yes, sometimes you just need to say to yourself ‘enough is enough’ and I’m going to take a step back to chill a while.

- - curlytops said
  - 12 Sep 2015
    9:38 pm
Having a good se to friends who can cheer you up is great too!
- Lucas' Mum replied
  
  13 Sep 2015 , 2:19 pm
  Friends are fabulous when this sort of day happens. They make you laugh and remind you not to sweat the small stuff! XO
- - dannsbuild said
  - 12 Sep 2015
    8:48 pm
Interesting to read this! Thanks so much!

- - spazzy said
  - 12 Sep 2015
    6:03 pm
Sometimes a simple act helps. Making a cup of tea does it for me, or bundling the kids up and ignoring the chores in favour of a ball kicking competition.
- mom93821 replied
  
  13 Sep 2015 , 6:20 am
  Good choices and these acts do help.
- - mom93821 said
  - 12 Sep 2015
    5:21 pm
I love to go for walks on days like these as it clears the head and re-focuses energy back where it belongs. Taking some long deep breaths always helps too.
- Lucas' Mum replied
  
  13 Sep 2015 , 2:13 pm
  A walk is another great option. Anything that gets those negative, overwhelmed, thoughts to leave the building!
- - aliceou said
  - 11 Sep 2015
    3:53 pm
Thank you. I have learned from it.

- - mom101628 said
  - 11 Sep 2015
    11:21 am
These days happen to us all – and unfortunately they don’t end when your children have all left home – you just get a new set of problems – sick husband, sick grandchildren, etc. etc.

- - mom112492 said
  - 10 Sep 2015
    9:09 pm
Love this 🙂

- - mom113055 said
  - 10 Sep 2015
    12:13 am
she looks like shes in trouble

- - mom81879 said
  - 09 Sep 2015
    7:19 pm
So true. And such great advice. We’ll all do well to listen to this lady

- - mom74640 said
  - 09 Sep 2015
    9:50 am
Lke it

- - bec101 said
  - 09 Sep 2015
    6:26 am
These days are horrible. No matter where you go or what u do it goes wrong.
I love the comment “I don’t put it on facebook” yayyyyy because we all have crappy days. We don’t need to tell everyone
- mom112492 replied
  
  10 Sep 2015 , 9:10 pm
  thats for sure 🙂
- - mum4107 said
  - 09 Sep 2015
    5:37 am
Very well written and we all have those days. Thank you

- - mom150983 said
  - 09 Sep 2015
    5:35 am
It’s always good to remember that tomorrow is a brand new day thanks for sharing