It's A Bad Day: Not A Bad Life

"Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

-Nehemiah 8:10

I am going to be honest with you: today was just not my day.

It has been awhile since I have had a "bad day." I'll be honest with you again, I kind of forgot what a day like this felt like. Blessed? Definitely. However, today, I felt like everything just came flying at me like a baseball, and I can promise you that I was not wearing a glove. As the day went on, I found myself becoming more and more down with each passing class period. That was not a very wonderful feeling.

Looking back on today, I can see how silly all of these factors that contributed to my so-called "bad day" actually were. Things as silly as having to wake up just 20 minutes earlier than usual for an advisory meeting. These little things are so silly that I find myself questioning, "Can I trade this in and save it for a day when I am really struggling?" As I sit here with a new perspective toward today, I realized how many chances I passed up to just simply flash a smile to help someone else.

Now, I could sit here and beat myself up about how ridiculous it was for me to let little things "ruin my day," but I am going to use this as a learning experience instead. We all have these days- the kind of days that seem to never end, and the days where we can't wait to go back to sleep at night the moment our feet hit the ground in the morning. These days are going to happen; it's inevitable. It's really and truly all about what you do about it (key word: YOU). Isn't it so easy to blame other people when we have a bad day? Instead, let's talk about what we can do for ourselves. One of my favorite passages of scripture is found in 1Samuel 30:6: "David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God." I hope you get as many chills as I do when I read that. I can compare the little things that turned my day upside down to this passage of scripture, and those things really do become so minor. David had people planning on stoning him, and what did he do? He encouraged himself. He didn't throw a pity party and wait for someone else to come along and do the encouraging for him; he did it for himself. I think that's where we all go wrong. We, as human beings, would rather become encouraged by not lifting a finger instead of sucking it up and doing it for ourselves. It may sound a tad harsh, but it's true. Jesus had to encourage Himself and walk through Samaria to get to that woman who needed Him, when she didn't even know she did. If Jesus had to encourage Himself, then we are bound to do the same at some point in this life.

I look around the world and see turmoil everywhere, and I can't help but notice my own heart breaking at what I see. These people would love to have the day I had today. In fact, I can almost guarantee that they would trade almost anything for it. It really humbles me to think about how truly blessed I am. I was reminded today from someone to "Choose joy." Choose joy over whatever circumstances are being thrown at you. Choose joy when you feel like giving up. Choose joy when you are questioning if it's even worth it anymore. Choose joy, even when you are having the worst day ever. There is always a reason for whatever you may going through. We will all have these days, but remember that it's just a bad day: not a bad life.