Being Human Isn’t Always Ease

Yesterday I had a bad day. Nothing horrible happened. In fact, there was really no difference between yesterday and the day before yesterday, except…

My mind—my frame of mind. That had changed radically.

~I felt tired and sick and tired of the gray rainy weather we’ve been experiencing in the Pacific NW.
~I had chosen to not go the grocery store and decided I was unhealthy because I had not eaten greens for a couple of days.
~My clothes in my closet (which were fine the day before) were now all ugly.
~Nothing fits – yup, I have put on five pounds (the same five that were there the day before, which was a good day).
~I looked in the mirror with disgust (same face as the day before) and my hair – yuck, just yuck.
Does this sound familiar?

My bad day didn’t stop there. It oozed into my working environment as well. I was down on myself for just about everything. Feeling like a failure. Feeling not good enough. Feeling the need for more.

So why was yesterday a bad day and the day before better?
Enter Neuroscience. I first read about the different sections of the brain and how they work in the book ‘Just Listen’, by Mark Goulston. In his book he explains how to guide someone out of the reptilian section of the brain – the very section of my brain that I was stuck in with no one to guide me out.

And here’s the rub—the reptilian section of the brain is the oldest and strongest. All sections of our brain have supportive functions, that can conflict with each other—I mean really – even science proves that being human isn’t always easy.

The evening of my bad day, my husband and I took our dog out for her nightly walk and Tom asked me “how are you feeling physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually (cool husband huh!)?” Lucky for him, it was a short dog walk so I kept my answer brief and said “Intellectually and mentally fried. Emotionally, not great. Physically, I feel like crap. Spiritually – okay”. And then I said, “you know, I’m just having an off day, tomorrow will be better.”

Being human isn’t always easy. For those ‘stuck in your reptilian brain’ days, practice compassion and be gentle with yourself. Acknowledge that it’s your thoughts that are fueling the bad day and keep the faith – around the corner there is always a good day!

And, as Deepak Chopra says, “The difference between a bad and a good day is really about the inner world of the person having it.”

How do you navigate those ‘bad’ days? Comment below.

Cheers!