My Terrible, Awful, No Good, Very Bad Day…and What I Learned From It
March 11, 201412 Comments
Yesterday was a terrible, awful, no good, very bad day.
First, I went to go renew my driver’s license, only to encounter a snafu with some paperwork that left me standing in line trying to sort out my life for more than five hours.
After basically wasting the entire day, I got home and collapsed on the couch for a brief rest. And things started to look up. Briefly. That is, until I went to leave my apartment again to grab some dinner and discovered that my apartment complex managers/maintenance staff had ripped open a bag of my garbage and scattered it across my front porch because they determined that I threw said trash bag into the wrong trash can. (A trash can that I had no idea I wasn’t supposed to throw…well, TRASH in. There was no sign or anything). And yes, this actually happened. I had to bundle the scattered trash back up and go deposit it back into the rogue trash can, which as I’m sure you can imagine, was all sorts of fun. Couldn’t they have just left a note?!?
After ALL that…I was left stressed, frazzled, and ready to curl up in a ball and cry for the rest of the night.
But then I posted on Twitter about my bad day and got an influx of wonderful sentiments and prayers sent my way. And then, out of the blue, a friend texted me a wonderful message and prayer. And after that, I went in my favorite Starbucks and the wonderful baristas gave me a frappuccino and a cookie on the house to cheer me up. Which both seem like such simple gestures…texts and tweets and cookies…but they took up such a large space in my heart. And THAT reminded me that sometimes, that’s all it takes. You don’t have to throw a parade in someone’s honor, or buy them fancy gifts. You just have to CARE. That’s it. It’s so simple.
Small gestures turned my terrible, awful, no good, very bad day yesterday around. Today I encourage you to take five minutes and send someone a sweet email or text. Or buy the person’s coffee behind you in line. Or send an encouraging tweet to someone you know going through a hard time. It does matter. It does count.
Because small acts of kindness and love can often have the biggest impact.
What small gesture has someone done for YOU that turned a bad day into a good one? Sound off in the comments below!
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Life doesn’t always look the way we want it to look. In Mandy’s upcoming book, Turn Toward the Sun: Releasing What If and Embracing What Is, you’ll find encouragement to live in the moment, sit with your experiences, and trust God with the unknown.
I was in a car accident yesterday. The cop said it was my fault. No one did anything to make my day better.
I hope things are going better for you now. I almost T-boned a car who ran a red light on Saturday. If it wasn’t for the car next to me who stopped suddenly, I would have hit him. When I tried to speed up to thank the person next to me who stopped, the car took off.
Mandy, Thank you for sharing this not so great day. I am so mad that they threw your garbage like that all over the place. How rude. We have to pray for people who take joy of doing such things.. that is sad..I am glad your day ended great.. BEcause today is the first day for I’ve never been to Vegas …which by itself is just Awesome..
God Bless you…
Sometimes all it takes is someone taking the time to care to turn a bad day around. To share a happy conversation and be kind, that helps so much. A simple text doesn’t really cost anything (other than what we pay for phone service) but it’s so nice to know someone cares especially when we need a push to set our horrible day back on track to happy. I’m glad your day turned into a better one!
Yesterday I had a long day waiting for my insurance agent to verify and send payment details. I was getting upset by all the waiting yet my cover had lapsed. I decided to change the service provider and agent and called a different agent. Eventually we agreed and we were to meet but she was late. As I waited I decided to go buy a phone that I had been planning to buy. I could not get the color and specifications I wanted. The lady attending to me whispered there’s a place I could get then volunteered to take me we went and I got the phone. I needed a cover but the places we checked I could not get. I was in a hurry she volunteered to buy for me I just picked it from her. It made my day
Good morning. For the past couple of days I’ve been super emotional. My boyfriend has been unavailable to talk to. My family don’t understand my frustrations. And I don’t trust talking to my friends all the time. So one day I had a patient who couldn’t use his arms or his legs. And listening to his story just made me realize that I’m having a bad day over nothing but this man can’t use his arms or legs and he’s having an awesome day. It just brought me back to reality don’t complain about the small stuff.
I think the best way to cheer up a friend is to buy her a copy of “Never Been to Vegas”. 😉 Mandy, you are such an inspiration. Thank you for being so real and honest about life and its many adventures!
wow!!!!! so sorry bout having to fill out mountains of paper work it can be very stressful. but as far a the “garbage ” situation .I would be blowing smoke out my ears .I woild report the maint… guy to management for sure .that is totaly “UNEXCEPTABLE” for people to act in such a rude manner.sorry ,that is why I do not love apt living .anyway .so glad your day turned out good and that there are good and kind people still left in the world .all it takes is one “pay it forward” to change the day for others .I love a quote from one of my favorite movies “where the heart is ” which says:there is bad in this world and there is good ,and the good is worth living for .so live for the good .
So very very sorry that your day was horrible! In my 71 yrs being single- countless days and sometimes several in a row – so many bad days – but I am still alive!! Have had several loves and currently have met someone! Praying for answer if he is FROG or HANDSOME PRINCE! He is 51! Everyone thinks I am in my 50’s – I can say that the credit all goes to the LORD JESUS! My
faith and belief has taught me to overcome all these trials to make me ULTRA STRONG ! My attitude is still – it is not what happens to you – but how you let affect you! I can say that is still extremely hard to this very hour! I want to continue being the best I can!
Loved the book “Single woman” – am ordering your new one Mandy! I think you are wonderful and I know you are helping lots of women to make their lives GREAT!!!
The same thing happened to me once! My trash bag was then opened and thrown into the landscape and I was written up by RAs. Apparently you have to be careful about throwing trash away in a “wrong” trash can…?? Anyway, glad your day turned around!
Rutherford Co Dept. Of Motorvehicle is. What it is. Its like prision.
I missed my paper today… due to late sleeping