You know, life has this funny shitty habit of not always playing fair. The weather doesn’t care if you’re wearing Crocs on a rainy day, and that cup of coffee might just decide to hug you when you’re wearing white. And while sometimes it feels like life is personally targeting you with its foolishnesses, a comforting secret to share: it happens to ALL of us.
Here are six hiccups we occasionally let darken our skies.
Mistakes: Ah, the classic. You missed an appointment or maybe forgot an important task you had to get done. Oops! But remember, nobody’s perfect, and neither are you. Laugh it off, learn from it, and maybe next time, double-check your hopefully existing to-do list.
Slow Progress/Impatience: You’ve been working on that project for weeks, and it feels like you’re moving at the pace of a particularly lazy snail. Breathe in, breathe out. Good things take time, and so will your masterpiece. Patience, dear friendly snail.
Sunken Costs: Have you ever invested time, money, or worst of all energy into something that didn’t pan out? It sucks, yes. But sinking in sorrow won’t recover those costs. Spending more time, money or energy might also not be the way to go. Remember, the future is what you make it and often opportunities are just waiting to be spotted.
Serial Incompetence: The pain of learning something new can be, well, painful. But hey, every master was once a disaster. And trust me, once you get that dopamine hit from even the tiniest bit of progress, you’ll be motivated to keep it moving. The funny part is that usually, the better you become at something the more incompetent you feel. It gets easier for you to see all the room left for improvement. Serial incompetence is just another way of measuring what level of mastery you want to get to. Just don't forget to look back at the competence you have gained.
Friction: From the resistance of building new habits to the weight of a day’s fatigue, friction is a part of every journey. Even communication sometimes feels like trying to solve a puzzle while blindfolded. There are a million types of friction we are presented with daily. Every little rub polishes you just a bit more. Just like serial incompetence, it can serve as an indicator of underlying value and purpose worth chasing.
Bad Luck: Ever had one of those days where you felt the universe was out to get you? We all have. But sometimes, you just have to shrug and say, “That’s life!” No point in crying over spilt cosmic milk.
Now, here’s the tea: Bad days? They’re part of the package deal of being human. Everyone has the right to a rough day, even if it’s for the silliest of reasons. Any reason is enough and okay really. What’s key is to control what’s in your hands, observe the rest with a gentle smile, and remember: a bad day doesn’t mean a bad life.
Takeaways
Bad days happen to everyone, sometimes for no reason at all.
Control the controllable, dance with the unpredictable.
Just because it’s a grey day, doesn’t mean the sun won’t shine tomorrow.