Tag Archives: bad days

Bad Days: Good Moments

Posted in Lifestyle by

Fellow SolSat readers, I have just had one of those days. The kind of day when you’re late for work, and your Ipod runs of battery. Everyone seems to be out in the sunshine loving life and you’re stuck in the cold forgetting what made you upset in the first place. The little bullshit things have a habit of building up during the day and making you wish you had an emergency stash of energy and happiness somewhere in your body. I thought, to counteract the silly shitty things that happen, maybe I’ll make a list of the tiny good things, the things that sometimes have the ability to make your day the best in your life so far. So I did this, and I was surprised to see my mood elevating even at the mere thought of these things. Here is my list of my personal favourite little feelings, and if you’re someone prone to letting the little bad things effect you I’d suggest making your own.

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(All gifs by Pusheen Corp.)

Washing your face: At the start of the day, after you’ve slept on your face all night and built up sleep in your eyes, nothing beats clearing it all away. It’s especially nice if you have a wash with those micro-massaging beads, and it’s a bonus if it smells like honey or vanilla or any other heavenly scent.

Every sip of coffee: It doesn’t matter if it’s strong and black or milky with five sugars; you have it the way you want it, and the way you want it is delicious. Especially on icy mornings, when you can’t find your slippers and your feet have to brave the cold tiles of your floor. It’s okay. Coffee is your buddy, it’ll warm you up from head to toe. tumblr_m0afdxYVEw1qhy6c9o2_250

The best part of a song: Generally any song you enjoy listening to will lift your spirits, but I find the most satisfying listen to be with so-so songs. Songs that you’re only listening to for that one part in the middle or towards the end; a breakdown, a guitar solo, a shift in key. Maybe you listen to the entire song, you wade through the average parts all the way to your favourite bit; and the pay-off is oh-so-sweet.

An I love you: You could go through a lot of these in a day. Most of the time it’s uttered as a habit when you’re saying goodbye or writing it at the end of a birthday card. But the spontaneous and meaningful ones can make a day. When someone looks into your eyes and says it, with no infliction, and not even needing you to say it back. Or when your mum calls and she says it, but she draws it out, and you find that if you don’t hang up straight away neither will she. tumblr_lkv2y2zagH1qhy6c9o1_400

Making something well: A dish you make might be good, it’s good that you even know how to make it, but sometimes it is magical. You take the first bite and finally think: yes, this is it, I have perfected this. I get the same relief when writing, after working on a piece for months and suddenly realising that in your fourteenth draft you can’t find any errors. It’s finally ready. That is one moment I wish there were more of. 200-1

Money in hand: That feeling at the end of the work week when your boss drops some fresh cash into your palm. After you’ve soldiered on, gotten up early, turned up on time every day and tried your damned hardest all week. Slacking off at work will never bring the same triumphant feeling. It’s great when your hard labour is rewarded.

These are just a few that I try to think of when I’m down. Not all of them are achievable at any given moment, but just knowing that it could happen sometime in the future is such a sweet thought.

(For more Pusheen: http://pusheen.com)

− by Josefina Huq

Bad Days: Understanding Assholes

Posted in Opinion by

Everything is making you upset, bad things seem to be following you, and the stress of it all is transforming into a silent and sad rage. It’s just another day, except you’re pissy at the universe and the universe is retaliating. It isn’t really though, because I’ve lived through this day; in fact, I experience this phenomenon two to three times in a good week.

"My hair looks like crap? I hate everyone."

“My hair looks like crap? I hate everyone.”

It can be akin to a child who ruins their day at Sea World because they’re still grumpy about not riding shotgun on the way there. When you wake up upset, everything in your path will make you more so as the day goes on, and when it’s over you feel like the irrational and idiotic person you hate other people for being. It’s the hindsight that really kills you, and you end up having a string of thoughts similar to this:

‘You idiot, you got upset over that? You’re a real shit-head. Here, have this big reality check.’.

But even if you’re flipping tables, or cussing-out your mother, or death-staring strangers on the train, there’s something you should know; it’s a shame to think that anything you feel is invalid.

I’m going to take a chapter out of the Big Book of Cliches and say that nobody is perfect, and human nature makes us prone to dramatise everything that we do and everything that is done to us. If we’re lucky, there’s always someone around to tell us when we’re being unreasonably shitty, but even then we can’t pretend to switch off the feelings that have already bubbled to our brim.

Example: My partner tried to kiss me but instead smashed his nose into my face. What a funny little accident, right? Nope, not in my state of despair; this was just another sign that the universe was against me. Once my anger subsided to muffled misery, the unloading began, and suddenly he became an audience member to the tragic play that was my Tuesday:

‘It’s just that my mum called, and that made me miss her, but also we didn’t have milk for coffee, and my hair wasn’t doing that flippy thing I like, and oh yeah, I’m sad about how strained me and my father’s relationship has become.’

And just like that my day from Hell was diminished to a few annoyances and a huge emotional issue that was lying dormant in my self-conscious. If I had taken the time to talk to someone about this, or even think about it myself, I might have had the best damn day of my life. But realistically, days like this can’t be avoided so easily, because when emotion takes over, all rationality is crumpled up and thrown into the gutter – and this is why I desperately try to apply this to all the other seemingly evil people I come across.

When an old lady cuts in front of me at the shops, sure, I hate her and all other elderly people in the world, but only briefly, because I know there’s an excuse for her rudeness. Maybe she only has two more hours to live, and before she dies she has to purchase a photo frame for her only daughter, Jessica, and place inside a picture of them sitting on the beach together from their Perth trip back in 89′, just to let her know that she will always be with her and that her love for Jessica is as endless as the waves of that ocean.

Not only do I admire this lady’s love for her daughter, but I pity her, because she is going to be dead by the time I eat the chocolate I’m waiting in line to pay for. I know the story is farfetched and lame, but I’d like to think that instead of this lady being a total dick, there’s a reason for her actions, because I know I’ve always uncovered a reason behind mine. But this doesn’t excuse the lesson that taking the time to sort out the emotional stress in your head will make you less of an asshole, and more attuned to all the goodness in your day.

So instead of categorising your feelings or the feelings of others as unworthy, think of why people do the things they do. When you’re having a bad day take the time to figure out why, rather than spend it hating on yourself and others because you might feel like you have the freedom to wallow in your own frustrations, but it comes at a cost, not just to your day but to the people around you.

– by Josefina Huq