Defying Crappy Days

Let's talk crappy days.  We all have them, and maybe you are having one right now. Perhaps you hate your boss and you just had to see him, or your car broke down, your dog ran away, or your goldfish died - it's okay. Bring it in...you need a hug.

Now the great thing about bad days is this: they go away. And they don't just go away the next day, or the next week - you can find some relief from them the moment they get to be too much.

They say that our brain, and the memories that it holds, is a very powerful thing. I'm sure this is not the first time that you have heard that certain images, items, songs, etc. have been proven to evoke various emotions in us depending on how we associate them with our lives.  You can't tell me that there isn't some song that when it comes on you don't smile ear to ear and go "Oh WOW. This one takes me back!!" I have two CDs that I made ("Senior Week Ooo!" Ooo! and "Goin' to College") that every time they get scratched up, I re-create them.  These two CDs have some of the BEST music on them, and each one brings back clear and vivid memories from a week down at the beach with my best friends when I was 18, and those first few exciting days at college when you meet new friends, attend your first party, and realize that you have to figure out how to do your own laundry. If I'm having a bad day...these get turned on ASAP!

The same can be said for images. Each of us is different. What does this image do for you?

Anything? Maybe not..but what you do not see is off to the left there is a patch of grass covered by huge, shady oak trees..and it is in that patch of grass that almost a year ago I got married to my best friend. So for me, this image conjures up details of that day: the breakfast, the stress, the conversations with my sister, waiting anxiously for him and feeling like I was going to throw up (in a good way), and then the fact that no matter how hard I tried I could not stop smiling ear to ear the moment I started walking across that grass.  That's a happy memory to me, and often times it is pictures of Niagara that I go directly to if I am sitting at work temporarily hating things.

So there is relief (aside from a bottle of wine) that can be applied when things start to get a little down in the dumps. I recommend putting a couple of those songs that bring back good memories onto your iPod, iPhone, Droid...whatever..to have on hand for emergencies. It's amazing at how much just a small pick-me-up can help when the day gets tough.

Comment below: What is one song that brings back a positive memory for you?