It's a Bad Day, Not a Bad Life!
This too shall pass!
"Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional." – Haruki Murakami
We wake to a grey sky, rain patterning against the window. The coffee machine sputters and dies, leaving us without our morning ritual. A hasty text informs us of a cancelled lunch date. The day unfolds in a series of minor calamities and disappointments, each seemingly conspiring to darken our mood further.
In such moments, it's all too easy to extrapolate from these temporary setbacks to a grand narrative of personal failure. We imagine our entire existence as a string of such days, stretching endlessly into a bleak future. But in doing so, we commit a grave error of perspective.
Our lives are not defined by single days, no matter how trying. Instead, there are countless joyous, mundane, and occasionally difficult moments.
Judging the entirety of our existence by the frustrations of one rotation of the Earth is similar to declaring a grand symphony a failure based on a single discordant note.
This tendency to catastrophise speaks to a peculiar human trait: our inability to maintain proper proportion in our emotional responses.
A spilt cup of coffee becomes emblematic of our general ineptitude; a missed deadline at work transforms into proof of our fundamental unworthiness.
"Every day may not be good... but there’s something good in every day."
– Alice Morse Earle
Yet, if we step back and view our lives with the detached eye of a biographer, we would likely see a far more nuanced picture. We would observe triumphs alongside setbacks, moments of profound connection interspersed with periods of solitude, and personal growth emerging from challenges overcome.
We may pause the next time we find ourselves mired in a day that seems determined to test our patience. We could remind ourselves that this, too, shall pass and that tomorrow brings with it the possibility of renewal, joy, and unexpected delights.
Life, in all its complexity, cannot be reduced to a single bad day besides the day we die! lol