A bad life, or just a bad day? - An essay on those intensely overwhelming days
- Nikita Vyas
- Jun 11
- 4 min read
There are those really intense filled days that can ruin our mood and change the entire narrative of our life. Everything changes. From how we view our life, the world, the people, and our situation. Sometimes, pinpointing that specific feeling that takes over our life becomes difficult even if momentarily.
Anytime I would experience such days, I would start to feel that this is just how my life is. I would say that it’s my life that’s ruined and not the day. It’s my life that’s terrible and not the day. Especially when I was dealing with depression (or so I thought), I had more than one day that was terrible and therefore it became easier to believe that life in general was terrible for me and I wasn’t going to experience good days ever.
I feel this wave of empathy when I hear clients tell me exactly the same thing I used to say when I was going through depression (read: absorbed energy, sadness, unprocessed feelings).
This can be difficult to explain and sometimes people find it very challenging to comprehend. How can one bad day be a bad life? How can one bad turn of event mean that life is generally terrible? But it can feel that way when we reach that point of saturation and when even momentarily don’t have the patience to deal with things anymore.
When I was learning about the law of attraction and energy, a lot of the theories made a lot of sense to me. And these theories made me realize that sometimes it’s okay to say that a bad day, is just a bad day. Sometimes a bad week is just a bad week. It may not be a bad life. It may not be a narrative of life.
I also learned to prioritize my worry in such moments. And pay attention to my reactions. Especially when my emotions were really intense. I allowed myself to practice the necessary silence just to make sure I don’t make my emotions and feelings too overwhelming than they already were.
When we go through rough days or bad days, we tend to react more emotionally than we do pragmatically. These reactions can make things worse from my experience. We later tend to deal with the guilt of all that we did and said when we were going through a bad phase. We find ourselves stuck in a loop and this can be further harmful.
The way we communicate with ourselves or with the people around us can also have an impact on our mood and also the narrative we start to believe in. So, it’s essential to allow yourself to be surrounded by people who at that moment will make you feel calmer and not challenge you or demotivate you.
(Let's work together)
In my experience, I’ve noticed that when I have bad days, I choose to spend my moments with people who can be there for me wherein I don’t have to talk about my problems however, they’ll be willing to sit with me in silence and stay with me. Sometimes a hug can also really make a huge difference. Sometimes talking about it can further ruin the mood because we may not be in the mood for advice or suggestions. At least in my experience, I’ve noticed that when I have a bad day, I allow myself to shut down till I feel good enough to communicate again.
Just because we’re having a bad day, we can’t take it for granted and simply lash out.
As a young adult, I used to lash out and let my bad mood take the blame instead of holding accountability. As an adult, I now realize just how harmful this pattern can be. Not only is it harmful to our well-being but also our relationships with others. If this pattern persists, it becomes a part of who we are and slowly becomes our habit.
I remember back in the day; I had a series of bad days and I didn’t know how to deal with them. I sometimes wouldn’t know what caused it and I would lose control easily. It became worse each time. So much so that my friends and people around me started to call me “moody” or “depressing”. These labels stung because somewhere deep down I knew I wasn’t moody or depressed as a person. I knew I was going through a bad day and I didn’t know how to react or stop it.
Today, I’ve realized that a bad day is just a bad day and not a bad life. Even during a really bad day, I somehow find moments to smile. I allow myself to find something that makes me happy. I give myself permission to take it slow. I don’t react as if there’s no tomorrow. Even if I do overreact in some way, the intensity has reduced.
In my journal, “Unlearn to Relearn” there’s a prompt on how to learn to keep it simple and unlearn to make things complicated. It’s a prompt that changed a lot of things for me. It allowed me to calm the noise that constantly would bog me down. And somehow felt unnecessary.
This essay is just to remind you that when you go through a bad day, I hope you don’t confuse it with a bad life. I hope you give yourself permission to slow down and not change your narrative to something that may not be close to your reality.
I hope this essay gives you a different perspective on your life and reactions.
Thank you for reading!
This essay was also published in my Substack - (Click here to read)
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