how do you handle hard days?  they are different for you than they might be for me.  and, it’s possible they might very much be the same.  a hard day this week could, very well, look different than a devil of day last week.  you never can tell.  all though sometimes, i think you can.  and, what i like to tell is, those days to scat.

i have had a lot of hard days knocking down my doors this last year, and i’ve been attempting a lot of scatting and shooing.  why, sometimes whole days have been swallowed up in the sport of shooing.  then there is wishing.  wishing the days away or for some type of escape.  when, at the end of it, you sometimes wish you wouldn’t have wished for anything except a nap.  and, when none of that seems to work than i always seem to believe french fries will.  french fries and friends, maybe?  but, the truth is there are days when even ice cream won’t do the trick.  you know those days too?

when all you can do is stand still.  tell your mind to be quiet and maybe whisper a prayer.  the simplest prayer you’ve ever prayed.  “help.”  surprisingly, i’m coming to find that to be one of the most powerful prayers i’ve ever prayed.

help.  it doesn’t always come the way we thought and certainly not always the way we want, but it comes.  i’m finding, it comes.  it comes in the form of a perfectly blue sky and bright shining sun that somehow warms you all the way to your weary heart.  it comes by way of the phone, through the encouraging words of a friend.  it comes in words written many moons ago as if written just for you.  it comes.  and the bad days go.  and, they come again.  it’s life.  but, next time don’t be afraid to ask for or even look for help.  and, maybe you’ll find soon enough that you, yourself, will be help to someone else who needs it so desperately.

so tell me do you have these kinds of days?

although being practical is sometimes hard to attain when you are in the middle of something . . .

these are some practical things that seem to help me when i’m having hard days :

 

+talk to a friend  : sometimes the hardest thing to do, in the moment, but sometimes one of the fastest ways to get out of the moment.

+take a walk : nothing clears the mind like a walk.  it makes space in your brain and also physically release feel good endorphins.  and it gets the creativity flowing.  bonus!

+listen to music : music that makes you relax, uplifts your soul, or gets you moving.  kitchen dance parties do wonders.

+read : for me it’s inspiration, fiction or self help (yes – self help or shall we say personal growth books).

+ bake : unless this stresses you out, that is.  i like to “bake it out.”  and the smell… aromatherapy.

+breathe : duh.  i know.  but i find myself holding my breath a lot.  and it has been really helpful to stop and take deep breaths and get oxygen to the brain.

+yoga :  everything about this is relaxing.

+write / journal :  don’t hold your thoughts in.  get them out.  process them.  and if it is too much to put on paper than write what you can.  about anything.  pen to paper is amazing.

+travel : yes, this isn’t always an option, but if you have opportunities, then, take them.  sometimes just getting out of your situation for awhile and having pockets of respite is enough to sustain.  i can live off of a good trip for a months.  a change of scenery does miracles in the mind.

+moments : create little moments that are relaxing, to you, whenever you can.  for me, it’s sitting quietly and reading (or writing) with a cup of tea.  for you, it might mean lunch with a friend or taking a run.

+others : do something for others.  anything (write a letter, bake cookies, visit an elderly person, help a friend).  sometimes getting outside of ourselves is the best medicine.

+chocolate  : like not a whole box of oreos but good dark chocolate.  antioxidants, friends.

+gratitude : focusing on things you have to be grateful and thankful for can help make the problem a bit smaller or at least take the focus off of it.  it’s good to write down all of the good.  you know?

what kinds of things help you?

image / lesthetiquedelinventaire