Happy Sunday! ☀️

I can’t believe it’s already the final day of May and we’re headed into summer. As we close out the month, I’m reminded that May is Mental Health Awareness Month. This year, the theme is More Good Days, Together, with Mental Health America encouraging us to reflect on what a “good” day looks like for ourselves, and for our communities. That got me thinking. What does a good day actually look like in my life?

My first thought was that I need to remind myself that there’s a big difference between being a good day and a great day. We’ve all had those great days where at the end of them, you feel energized, happy, and wishing every day could be like that day. It seems like everything went right that day, and you go to bed thinking, “wow that was a really great day!” But for me, I think a good day doesn’t always give you that “high,” and instead leaves you content and satisfied that you did your best. Maybe I’m setting the bar a little low for a good day, but for me, good days can happen even when not-so-good things happen during it.

I also believe that good days depend on our perspective, and whether we’re able to see and recognize the good in the days when it seems like not much is going right. As I think about it, if we want to try to work on having a more positive attitude, in spite of, all the negative, we need to acknowledge, and recognize. Being more positive doesn’t mean we put our heads in the sand and act like the negative isn’t happening. It’s important to acknowledge what went wrong, annoyed you, didn’t go your way, etc. Get it out of your head. Then, recognize what went right that day, made you smile, and went your way. I feel like this would be a great bedtime journaling exercise. Write down the things that were challenging for you, made you angry, felt unfair. Don’t let those things ruin your sleep. Then write down the thing, or things, that help you to reframe the day as a good one. Let those things wash over you as you go to sleep.

Just to give you an example of what this can look like, I immediately thought of one of the worst days of my life. The day we had visiting hours after my father had died. Those three hours felt endless, and hard, and draining. But at the end of the night, I had family and friends who took me out to dinner. We talked, and reminisced, and yes even laughed out loud. I thought about the long lines of people who came through to pay their respects and let us know how special my father was. It seems so strange to say this, but that actually was a good day.

So as you go through the next few days and weeks, take the time to acknowledge the tough times, and be sure to recognize the good. I think we’ll find that when we know that we have to find the positives in our day, we’ll start to create more of it.

Have a great week!

I know most of you have probably seen this, but if you happen to have a bad day this week, just watch this. The first time I saw this, the ending almost took me out I was laughing so hard. 🤣

I asked people on my Positively Pebbles Instagram, “what does a good day look like to you?” And as expected, a good day looks different for each of us. Join us to see what everyone else said, and leave your answer as well.

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