Bad days are a part of life
The Carpenters sang about “Rainy Days on Mondays” getting them down.
James Blunt more recently had a big hit with “You’ve Had a Bad Day”.
These songs, countless poems and a variety of Blues music tell us that bad days are a part of life.
It is never fun when a bad day sneaks up on you and bites you.
Some years ago I had one of those bad days. The kind of day where you wish you hadn’t gotten out of bed.
I made breakfast and promptly burnt my bagel.
I tried tying my shoe and the string broke. I was forced to wear uncomfortable loafers.
On my way to work there was a three car collision causing a long delay.
I guess as I look back it could have been worse. I could have been one of the cars involved in the wreck.
After taking 50 minutes to get to work instead of the usual 20 I was already frustrated and behind schedule.
My boss decided to have a two hour meeting and belly ached about the usual stuff that bosses belly ache about. My sales calls on this day went badly. I either got a busy signal or a quick hang-up.
I became tired of hearing “I’m not interested in buying anything”.
In between the unsuccessful calls, I received a larger than usual series of complaints from customers!
If I had squeezed my stress ball on that day, I’m certain it would have turned into a grenade and exploded!
To top things off, something I packed in my lunch leaked all over my sandwich and chips making them both soggy and inedible.
The only thing worse than a bad day, is a bad day without proper nourishment.
I finally made it home and enjoyed a tasty dinner, things looked a little brighter.
I settled in on the couch to watch my favorite team play basketball.
Big mistake, I should have seen it coming. It was a bad day. So it made total sense that my team would lose a close game at the buzzer.
I thought about grabbing a snack and a cold drink before tucking my little girl into bed, but I was afraid the pretzel would chip my tooth and the drink would spill onto my lap.
I was ready to waive a white flag and go to bed when my daughter appeared.
She reminded me it was story time.
I grabbed my daughter’s hand glanced down to her and said “What story do you want to hear.”? I already knew her answer. She looked up and chimed “You choose Daddy!”
She snuggled up next to me as I read her one of her favorite books. She would glance down at the pages then glance back up at me with loving blue eyes. Her little hand was placed comfortably on the top of my arm. Her tiny finger tapped my watch.
Her hand was warm and felt just right. After the story was over, I turned on her night light.
I placed my daughter in her in bed and tucked her in gently. She asked for a kiss and hug, which I gladly gave her.
I looked down on her and smiled. I believe it was the first time I had smiled that day.
After all the day had been dismal, not much to jump for joy about as they say.
Then one of those moments occurred. You know the ones that make life all worth it.
As I bent down by her bed to say goodnight my beautiful little girl reached up caressed my check with her tiny perfect hand and out of nowhere said “Daddy You’re the Best”
I melted. At that moment, she was a magician because she made my bad day vanish.
She sensed my mood and made me feel special. As a 3½ year old child she knew the perfect thing to say to make me feel better, just four simple words.
My day had been awful. On a scale from 1 to 10 it had been a negative three.
But four simple words were all it took to turn a bad day into one of my best memories ever.
I learned a few important things on that bad day.
1- Always check liquid containers in your lunch, it saves you from soggy food.
2- Story time and reading is a good thing for children and adults.
3- Children have a knack for sensing our moods and making us adults feel better. We should remember this special gift and also remember to reciprocate!
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