“When I wake up in a bad mood, I try not to stay in one. Learn to make the best of what you have.” – Faith Hill
If you wake up in a bad mood, do this. Try doing something nice for someone else. Do whatever it is that you can do to, and go out of your way to make someone else’s day just a little bit brighter. It can be your parents, your friends, a stranger, or even your siblings. Well, maybe not the last one…
This morning I woke up in a bit of an angry mood. Actually, I have woken up like this way the last three mornings, but that changes right now.
I got up, followed my morning routine, jumped in the car, and headed off to work.
For some reason, it just felt like there was this cloud of anger and negativity that was hovering over me all day long. No matter how many times I told myself that today was going to be a good day, that cloud remained over me. No matter how hard I tried to break the darkness of the cloud, the light just wouldn’t shine.
At work, I wasn’t as lively as I normally am, I wasn’t as positive as I would have liked to have been, and I lacked energy all day long. Even getting up from my desk to make breakfast seemed like a daunting task.
I was incredibly close to just chalking my day up as a loss and giving up. Tomorrow would be different.
Then I got a call from someone very close to me. Someone very close to me who was having a much more difficult day than I was having. This person just so happened to be my mom. As a son who has a very close relationship with my parents, seeing my parents in any amount of pain absolutely tears me apart on the inside.
Despite what had happened, I was more more upset that she was. She wasn’t angry about her circumstances, but yet there I was, showing my anger and letting it impact my day.
I just sat there, listened to what my mom was telling me, and wondered what it was that I could do to help.
Then I realized that I didn’t have any right to be in a bad mood. If someone who was having a much more challenging day was still able to focus on the positives of life, then I had no right to focus on anything but the positives.
The way I see it, my life is nothing short a blessing. I am alive, I have a roof over my head, I have food in my stomach, and best of all, I have the most amazing family ever. I hit the damn jackpot.
Those were the thoughts that came to my head and helped me to transition my mood.
On my way home from work, all I wanted to do was to help, but I didn’t know how. So, just like most guys that don’t know what to do, I went to the store and bought my mom some flowers. Yeah, cliche, but it worked.
I got to her house, gave her the flowers, and squeezed her tight like a teddy bear. If I wasn’t able to take the pain away from her, I at least wanted her to just know that I was there for her, and that everything was going to be alright.
See, going over to see my mom and bringing her flowers not only helped to put a little light back into her day, but it also helped to shed some light on my day as well. Seeing her smile and seeing her face light up gave me the greatest sense of joy and happiness.
It made me realize that life is too short to be angry and upset. Life is too short to wake up in a pissed off mood and let it impact your day. I mean, if someone who was having a hard day was still able to smile, then damn it, I was going to do the same.
At this point, I knew that everything really was going to be just fine.
In reflecting on my day, I realized that no day is ever worth giving up on. No matter what, I am alive, I have my family, and I am living my best life. Nothing else really matters more to me.
So if you wake up in a bad mood, try it. Go out of your way and do something nice for someone else. Put a smile their face, and watch what will happen. I guarantee that you will smile as well. It will give you all of the gratification and light that you need to turn any mood into a good mood. All while helping to put the light back into the life of others. Now that is a win-win.
Michael Bonnell
8/19/2018
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