“My bath was too hot, I got soap in my eyes, my marble went down the drain, and I had to wear my railroad-train pajamas. I hate my railroad-train pajamas.”
– Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
This quote has long spoken to me because, like most of you, I have definitely had those days where things didn’t quite seem to go right. (Even in Australia, as the main character explains in this cherished children’s book.)
The book is funny and relatable – to kids and adults alike – in part because Alexander didn’t have any REAL problems. He was dealing with minor annoyances. (Well, except the gum in his hair. That has always seemed pretty major to me, especially as a mom.)
But here’s the thing: How often do we as adults make one stressful or negative thing be our WHOLE day in our minds?
A lot can happen in a day – or even an hour.
We can get sad news that feels like a kick in the stomach. We can embarrass ourselves with our grumpiness and pettiness. And we can somehow also manage to wow others with our skill or insight or compassion.
If you are like me, you can ride ridiculously high then somehow manage to get the earrings that are attached to your body entangled in a tree branch for an awkwardly long time when leaving work.
How was that day? I did some awesome and purposeful work, and even executed a lesson so well a principal recorded it. And then, a few moments later, I was praying the campus security officers didn’t catch a view of me ensnared in the tree, trying to decide whether to scream for help.
Our lives are like that more broadly, too, aren’t they? It seems like, if we are lucky, there are some things going well. And then there’s always at least one thing that is not. If we are problem solvers, the temptation can be to fret and puzzle over the one bad thing, giving it more space in our day than it deserves.
So, let the small bad thing be PART of your day, sure. But your WHOLE day? Never.
Monique Writes All 