10 Ways to Recover from a Terrible Day

Let’s do something a little different.

This is not a “happy” post.

This is a post for the days where you breakup with your boyfriend of two and a half years, get homesick for your miniature pinscher and miss how the pizza tasted at that one place in town, or the days where you wake up late, your train is delayed, and you arrive at work only to find that your MacBook has been stolen (on a Monday).

Okay, now that we have established that your day/week/month has been awful, let’s turn that around.

1. Pop in your headphones, and listen to the guided meditations on Calm.Com. Let go, even if it’s only for 2-5 minutes.
2. Sometimes Spotify just understands you. On one particularly tough day, I blasted this one and transitioned into this one. Music heals.
3. Search “#puppiesofinstagram” on Instagram and scroll through the photos. Puppies ... puppies everywhere. You’re welcome.
   
   
   
   Left-to-right: @kingcalvin14, @mamamullins, @dewey_the_bulldog
4. Navigate through Vine’s curated comedy feed and I promise you’ll laugh. You’ll find the strangest stuff on Vine: these people are my people.
5. Take 10 minutes and call your folks (or the friends that you consider family). Checking in with your loved ones can often make a world of a difference.
6. Browse your favorite lifestyle blogs or AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE: it all depends on how you will react. It might be nice to browse through a stranger’s lovely little life on the internet, or it can be a terrible decision (and end up with you in fetal position crying about why you don’t have a neurosurgeon/part-time photographer boyfriend named Emanuel to take your outfit shots and a teacup designer puppy named Wishes). Not like that’s happened to me or anything ...
7. Take a moment and evaluate if you’re taking care of yourself. Do you get enough sleep? Are you eating healthy meals? Do you have a healthy work-life balance? When was your last physical? It’s common knowledge that these factors can impact your mood, but life just happens and your health can fall off your radar.
8. Don’t chop off all your hair until you are of sound mind. DON’T. After going through some dramatic situations, you may feel inclined to get a dramatic new style to go along with it. I know from experience that you can regret it terribly the next day, no matter how badly you “wanted” the transformative chop in the moment. Kindly note that bob cuts really don’t suit a rounder face like mine (especially when you cut it yourself). Womp.
9. Following my last tip, transform your look with something you can wipe off immediately afterwards if you so desire. Head over to CVS or your local drugstore, buy a lipstick that catches your eye, and swipe that baby on like there’s no tomorrow. I remember the first time I wore a bright pink lipstick. I felt stronger and sassier, all from a $4 tube of pigment. Give it a whirl.
10. Create a new private blog on Tumblr or LiveJournal and just vent your heart out. Grammar, syntax, and feigned politeness can go out the window. Get it all out. To those unfamiliar with the concept, this is also known as having a journal, except you can rest assured that your older sister won’t pop open the Hello Kitty lock with a bobby pin and read it to her friends.

Life isn’t always daisies and roses, and you may not be able to crawl into your bed and watch every season of One Tree Hill on Netflix for ages. Although there are definitely bigger problems in the world than say, not landing your dream job right out of college or someone stealing your credit card info to spend extravagantly in Italy, everyone deserves a way to stop feeling so lousy.

I hope these cost-effective tips help you or inspire you.

Here’s to a less gloomy future!