Christopher Murray

Sometimes you just know. Maybe when you fall asleep the night before, or when you first open your eyes in the morning. This is not going to be a good day. You know what, that is okay.

We all scroll through our social media feeds glancing at the lives of people we know, or often people we don’t. We watch intently following the posts they put up about their lives and how great everything is. Some aren’t even bragging. They are just showing photos from their lives or blogging about their day on YouTube. We sit, we watch, we view, we like and we share. All the time comparing our lives to those we see on our screens.

Most people have never compared their lives to a movie star or a number one hit musician. Yet, when it comes to the lives of those on social media, we feel the need to compare ourselves. After all these are ordinary people sharing their everyday lives. Right? Wrong. We all forget, even if we know this fact already, that what we are seeing is a carefully selected and often filtered view of their lives. Think of it more as a highlight reel of their lives.

We all have bad days, it is part of life. The days where for whatever reason we wake up and just feel off. Days where it seems as if everything is going wrong. Unfortunately it is often these days which we spend more time aimlessly scrolling through social media. It is these days that the urge to compare ourselves with others takes over.

Bad days are going to happen. Sometimes bad days are caused by some event, often out of our control, which has gone wrong. Other times we feel off, as if something isn’t right or we can’t quite get going. There doesn’t need to be a reason to have a bad day, sometimes there is a cause, other times it just happens. At this point try to avoid comparing yourself and your life to others. You aren’t in the right frame of mind to objectively view yourself. Also remember, those people you see on social media have bad days too. They just don’t show them to the rest of the world.

Once you are willing to accept that sometimes you are going to be having a bad day, you can begin to tackle it. Your motivation will be down and you will be in no fit mental state to take on high pressure ventures.

Start by acknowledging the fact that it is a bad day. I find that in life, once you acknowledge something it becomes much easier to handle. After this move. Sitting around is your enemy right now. Work out or go for a walk. Get some fresh air and sunlight. Eat well. It can be easy to slip into bad habits. On bad days it is important to look after yourself.

Bad days are going to happen. Sometimes it may seem like they just keep coming. Take your time, look after yourself and perhaps most importantly, be kind to yourself. No matter how bleak it seems, bad days don’t last. There is always tomorrow and tomorrow is a new day.