I have my cup of coffee and ready to face the new day. I opened my email and saw a rejection notice from a proposal I submitted. That immediately put me in a bad mood. Who likes rejection? Look, it doesn’t take much for some of us to go from good to bad when it comes to our mood and facing the day. But, we don’t have to allow circumstances to dictate our day. Here are a few tips to turn a bad day to a good one.

1. Start your day speaking 3 things (big or small) for which you are grateful. For example, today, I am thankful for a good night’s rest, children who are healthy, and a job I like. If you begin your day with gratefulness, your mood changes to the positive.

1. During the day, attend to positive things that happen. Because I am trained as a therapist to always find problems, I can easily put my focus on the negative and things that are not right. Doing this, brings my mood down. So, when I focus on what goes right in my day, my mood improves. Here is a recent example: I vacationed in Italy this summer. On the way back, I sat by a woman who was very sick. For 11 hours, she coughed and struggled, but I got home with no issues. Two days later, I got sick but at least it happened after I travelled. For that I was grateful!  I chose to focus on the positive.
2. Tell people in your life that you appreciate them. We may think positive things about the people around us but not tell them. Verbalizing your praise, appreciation or even fondness for others will lift your mood and theirs. Try this in the workplace. Praise your coworkers, your boss, and others when you appreciate something they do. It’s a mood lifter.
3. Renew your mind with God’s truth. So often in the Bible, God speaks to renewing our mind because we can’t control all our life circumstances. We are told to expect difficult days. However, we can control how we respond to difficulty. We can be the victim, blame others when problems come, or we can look at difficulty as an opportunity for growth. God is with you. Keep your eyes on Him just like Peter did when he was walking on the water towards Jesus. The second he took his eyes off the Lord, noticed the storm around him, he began to sink. When we take our eyes off the Lord, we can sink into a bad day.
4. Believe! Believe that God causes all things to work for our good, even the bad things that happen in a day. The apostle Paul challenges us not to lose perspective when times are tough. He had several bad days in prison. But he remained hopeful for a better day when he would be present with the Lord. He rejoiced in all his circumstances. To be content means trusting God completely.

Jesus turned the worst day of his life into the best day for us. His sacrifice on the cross gave us eternal life and peace with Him. We can wake up in the morning and feel eternally grateful for His sacrifice. So, turn that bad day into a better day by reminding yourself that God is for you, a present help in times of trouble and will work all things for your good.