The only difference between a good day and a bad day is your attitude
No one wants to have a bad day. And yet we can’t escape having one, from time to time. So if our attitude indeed makes a massive difference and we want to have a good day, surely we need to work on our attitude and think positive right? Surely we need to find some good tools and techniques and look at dealing with our negative attitude once and for all? Well, there is no harm in trying and you might see some results in the short term. However no tool or technique will work 100% of the time. It will also be tiring to stand guard at the door, so to speak, judging our attitude towards this, that and the other all the time and fixing it so that we have a good day. Trying to do so and trying to look at the brighter side of things can be hard, take up most of our energy and of little use. We will get caught off guard at some point and our attitude can be affected. Doesn’t mean it is our fault (or anyone else’s) or that we need to feel guilty about this.
It is helpful to know that our attitude changes with our state of mind and vice versa. Our state of mind changes throughout the day. If we are in a good state and feeling good, automatically our attitude is a positive one. We enjoy being in a flow state, compassionate and loving. We are also great to be around. If we are in a low state of mind and feeling bad, automatically our attitude becomes a negative one and we have a bad day. We react and become snappy or moody, we make harsh comments about others and not great to be around.
It is useful to remember that any state of mind is only temporary. Hence even our attitude is temporary (some people seem to have a more sustained negative or positive attitude. This depends on choices people make and what they choose to believe in at a core level)
We don’t have to try hard to change a bad day to a good day. If it happens effortlessly (or with relative ease) that’s great. We need to trust that the bad day is only temporary and that a good day is just round the corner. States of mind will fluctuate depending on visible or invisible thoughts that may be playing in the background of our mind. We don’t need to work on these thoughts and analyse them or change them to change our attitude. At some point a natural shift occurs. This occurs when we don’t keep playing and replaying the same stale thoughts again and again. It is as if somehow by us not working on our attitude or state of mind, there is more room for fresh thoughts to come in through the door. We then effortlessly bounce back to a better state of mind, a better attitude.
So yes, what makes a difference between a good day and a bad day seems to be our attitude or state of mind. But let’s make it okay to have a bad day too and not judge ourselves too harshly. When we learn to do so, we will also feel more empathy for others having a bad day.
