Everyone experiences a bad day now and then. It is a part of life. Oft times you can easily recognize the events that have led you to be, well, less than satisfied. From there you can evaluate what went wrong and how to overcome it – if you so choose.

But what about those days you just wake up angry or depressed and there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to your mood? What do you do about getting out of that icky funk you have so inadvertently been shoved into?

I had one of those days recently and it was difficult to push my way through. I didn’t want to get out of bed – the only reason I did was because I had a couple of little people that needed a mommy. I didn’t want to shower and dress. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I wanted to hide in my closet and disappear from the world. I felt sad and angry and ugly and worthless – like a complete failure and waste of a human being. Have you ever had one of those days?

I had no reason for those feelings. I have a wonderful life. I love being a wife and mother. I love my career. I have a beautiful home, nice car, lovely furnishings. All of my needs and wants are abundantly met. I have so very much for which to be grateful. But on that day, none of that felt true. If you had asked me to list 5 things for which I was grateful, that made me happy, I would have given you the evil eye and told you I had nothing to be grateful for.

Now you and I both know that is not true. But on that day, it felt true and no amount of “happy” talk was going to change that.

I don’t like feeling that way. I don’t like the energy it brings into my home. I don’t like the way I treat other people when I am in a funk like that.

So, after I got through it, I did some evaluating to figure out how to make these events short lived when they rear their ugly heads.

Here is what I learned.

1. It’s ok to have a bad day! It’s ok to feel those feelings of anger and despair. Feel them. Embrace them – but only for a moment, you don’t want to stay in that low energy for long.

You see, we all need to experience the bad to recognize the good. If you have never experienced sad, you don’t understand and appreciate happy. If you have never experienced fear, you can’t embrace the feeling of peace.

Opposites are all around us. Victory is never so sweet as when it comes on the heels of failure.

2. Keep your bad mood away from others. Do you best to put yourself in “Time Out”. It’s very easy for your bad mood to spread to those around you. Don’t be sharing your “dis-ease” with others. It’s your journey to get through, not theirs.

Don’t broadcast your pain and suffering to the world. Remember, this is a day where you feel bad for no reason. Sometimes you have events that bring you down and you need the support of others. But if you are just in a silly funk, don’t spread it. Treat it like a plague. Quarantine yourself! You will get through it and you don’t want to spread it needlessly to others. It is a journey for you to discover what you can do for yourself, not how the world can help you.

Now, you will probably still need to be “out in the world”, but try to keep your bad mood as far from others as you can.

It’s ok to tell people you are off your game and just need a little alone time. You don’t’ have to explain your feelings or what is wrong – and you can’t because you don’t’ even know!

3. Remember, it could be hormones! Those pesky hormones like to mess with us from time to time. If you are feeling in a funk, could your hormones be out of whack? Think about those darling teenagers with their raging hormones and mood swings galore. Are you seeing any similarities between you and a young teen?

If so, just knowing that may help. Often discovering the root of our emotions helps us to get past the pain and on track to a better place.

4. Just breathe…DEEPLY. Most people do not breathe deeply. Our breath is shallow and short. When we become angry, anxious, or depressed, our breath becomes even more shallow.

Deep breathing has so many benefits – physically, emotionally and spiritually. Some of the great benefits of deep breathing are:

• Detoxification and release of toxins
• Muscle relaxation
• Relaxation of the mind/body and increased clarity
• Release of emotional problems
• Tension release
• Relief of pain
• Release of endorphins

If you have never tried deep breathing, you are going to want to check it out. There are numerous tutorials all over the web to get you started. Just remember, when you are doing deep breathing correctly, you breathe in through your nose, expand your belly first then your lungs and hold the breath for at least 5 seconds before slowly let it out.

There you have it, 4 tips to get you through that bad funk kind of day. And remember, days like these don’t usually last more than a day – unless you feed them! So implement these 4 tips and kick that “funk” to the curb!