How to Handle People When You’re Having a Sh*tty Day (Without Blowing Up on Them)

“Having a rough day? Place your hand over your heart. Feel that? That’s called purpose. You’re alive for a reason. Don’t give up.” – Unknown

It’s 8:00 am, and you just stubbed your toe rushing out of bed. You overslept your 6:30 alarm, and are officially running late.

As you hop on one foot trying to soothe the throbbing pain of the little toe on your other foot, a million things run through your head:

“I’m not going to beat rush hour traffic this morning!”

“Now there’s no time for breakfast and I’m starving!”

“I haven’t finished preparing my presentation. I’m going to get fired.”

As soon as you walk outside, there’s a ticket on your car and you think to yourself: “Great. It’s going to be one of those days!”

Hiccups continue all morning and by the time you get to work, you feel tense, annoyed and ready to scream. You feel your body tensing up, and are just hoping no one says the wrong thing to you because you’re afraid to lose it.

Ah, bad days. We all have them. So what’s a person to do when it seems like nothing is going right and everything is going wrong?

Here are 4 ways to handle people when you’re having a sh*tty day without blowing up on them:

1.) Remember to Breathe

One of the quickest ways to calm down and release negative emotions is to take a few deep breaths.

If you feel your body tensing, and are getting annoyed by the people around you, breathe in and count to five. Then breathe out and count to five. Repeat this three times and you’ll feel much calmer and more in control of your emotions.

2.) Remind Yourself “This Too Shall Pass”

Everything in life is temporary, including this bad day of yours. Remember it won’t last forever, and if you can just get through today without going totally ape sh*t you’ll be situating yourself for a better day tomorrow! Yay, you!

On the other hand, if you freak out and lose it, you might make things worse for yourself and those around you for a longer period of time.

Take solace in knowing this is only a brief moment in time, and it will pass soon!

3.) Treat People How You Want to Be Treated

Would you want someone to yell at you or give you an attitude for the sheer reason they’re having a bad day?

Of course not! So don’t do that to them.

Always treat people how you want to be treated. Don’t take your anger and frustration out on others, or you’ll receive that treatment in return and bad days will seem MUCH worse than they really are.

4.) Think Before You Speak and Act

When your emotions are at an all-time high, and you’re feeling annoyed, angry, frustrated etc. it’s easy to act impulsively and say or do something you normally wouldn’t just to get someone to leave you alone.

Resist the urge to act impulsively. Think before you speak, or act. You don’t want to do or say something you’ll end up regretting.

Above all remember, this bad day of yours isn’t a result of what other people did or said to you. It’s also not the result of what happened in your life. Instead, it’s the result of how you choose to react (even if unconsciously) to those people and circumstances.

You can either control your emotions and be aware of them or let them control you. What will you choose?

Xx,

Antasha

 About Antasha Durbin: Antasha is a spiritual writer, life-long student of the universe, and psychic tarot card reader. Her website, cajspirituality.com, is dedicated to casualizing the spiritual experience and making it attainable for anyone, anywhere, anytime. Follow her for free, easy-to-digest and highly actionable advice on spirituality, mindfulness and empowered living.