When My Sky is Overcast

As everyone occasionally does, I have bad days, but today was not one of them.

Today was a rough day, to clarify, but it was not bad.

The difference between a bad day and a rough day for me is whether or not I let my situation or problems affect my conclusion at the end of the day that everything is or will be okay.

I spent most of my day working, and while being a hostess allows me to be friendly and smile, which is always good for the soul, the dozens of rude and mean people who come in can ruin it all.

My morning was a bit tiring, having not slept very well last night, due to having 80-year-old hips at the age of 18. But still, even through not feeling my best, even though the sky was gray and gloomy in our Colorado June, I walked into work with a smile and, as I always do, wished everyone a “Good Morning”. We started the day off well, actually. I smiled a lot at the start, and I got to chat with my coworkers, which sometimes doesn’t get to happen as they are busy and some are much older, so I’m sure they don’t want to entertain the teenagers.

And then, it hit all at once. We were extremely busy, and the stress was weighing me down. My chest felt like it hung so low to the floor, and as I busily hobbled about (on my 80-year-old hips, as I mentioned before), I noticed all the things that annoyed me. I was annoyed with the people, the weather, the dirty dishes, and even myself for being so down.

I consider myself a positivity enthusiast, so when I feel myself sinking down because of negativity, it feels like I betray myself.

So, I dealt with the people that came in, one of whom made me cry just by speaking meanly, but through it all, I carried on.

And when I say this, I do not mean I stopped feeling down or even letting things bother me, because I didn’t. I still had a rough day. I let myself have those moments because they are important feelings to have. And I have 2 reasons for this:

1. When you have a rough day, it is the perfect opportunity to get out any unresolved emotions you’ve had stored up for awhile.

Many people suppress their emotions, but it’s not healthy to conceal them. Feelings should be expressed. Everyone has their ways of coping, and for me, to get everything out, I have to cry. But in life, there’s not always the time or an opportunity to cry.

So when I cried today because of the man at work who spoke to me harshly, I also cried for the rack of cups that fell on me today, the people I’ll miss from high school, and of course, the roller coaster of emotions I am experiencing at this time in my life. I haven’t had time to use those emotions, so a rough day lets you release everything.

2. It practices your ability to see good things in your life.

When you have a bad or rough day, it is easy to write everything off and say all of it was horrible. It’s so much easier to be upset and complain than to face life and find what’s good about it when you don’t want to.

These good things are some of my favorite things about being alive, as I call them, Silver Linings.

On days like today, it gives me a challenge on where to find my silver lining.

For those that may not know, I keep a log of a silver lining from every day. On good days, they are very easy to find, but on rough days, they can be trying. This gives you the meaning behind silver linings, how even on a bad day, you can find something positive to help turn it around and see that life is beautiful.

So my day was rough, but I would not define it as a bad day because at the end of it, I’m still smiling.

And not because I convinced myself to. And not because I decided it was a good day.

I am smiling because good things still happen on rough days. And on bad days!

The definition of the days is very personal to oneself. So it can be any day you want it to be, but it’s okay to have rough days.

There’s always something that is good. And if you can’t find it, look harder. And if you still can’t find it, look again tomorrow.

Eventually, life will prove its worth.

On overcast days, with clouds that cover the pretty blue that summer wants to give us, the silver linings in the gray show that beauty is within the gloom.

And my silver lining for the day is writing this blog post with a smile on my face. 🙂