So, you had a bad day?

I promise that this article will not be depressing, inspite of the title. That is why the photo is more relaxing then sad (at least I tried to make it that way ;)).

I recently had a really bad day. Not only did my work drive me crazy but also the happiness of my private life was in danger. As you may know the most common reaction to such circumstances would be either to run away and hide or cry out loud. I was never a good runner so the first option was out of the picture, so I started to cry. It helped for a  moment, of course, but then the feelings came rushing back. Keeping in mind that having Hashimoto’s I am more prone to depression I had to act. But, what can you do if you have no influence on the dramatic events that happen around you?

Well, I started my “sad control” activity with writing down everything what happened and why it happened. After few minutes I had a huge list of issues (I was sure at the beginning that I had only one problem, but apparently there is more to it ;)), the list was then put aside. Then, I could do something nice for myself: I looked for some inspirational pictures on Instagram,  read few nice articles on the internet, made a plan for the next articles on my blog… . When I felt  more distant to my problems I sat back with that “issue log” piece of paper and with every point I was trying to find a solution ( I wrote them down on another piece of paper). After this task I had two separate sheets of paper: one presented issues (negative emotions) and the other solutions (positive emotions). Now came the fun part, I destroyed the negative list, but I made extra effort to make it as spectacular as possible (thankfully, no-one saw me doing that :)), and I felt such a relief…. Of course, my problems did not disappear like the piece of paper but at least I felt like I had some control over it – because I found the solution (to most of it at least).

For those of you who prefer the electronic piece of paper I can only say that it might work as well, however, putting a word document into the trash folder is not as deliberate as cutting, tearing or burning a piece of paper. However, I might be a bit old fashioned here, so don’t take the last sentence too personal ?

Anyway, I really hope that my trick to fight stress was useful for you, and maybe it will inspire you to fight your bad days in your own way. I would love for you to inspire me with your innovative problem solving techniques, so feel free to write them all down in the comment section:)