How to Have a Terrible, Awful, Very Bad Day (Guaranteed)

September 12, 2022 9:00 am Published by

How to Have a Terrible, Awful, Very Bad Day (Guaranteed)

Sometimes we focus on the positives in life – gratitude, appreciation, healthy relationships—and how to obtain (or maintain) them in our lives. But there are times when it can be helpful to remind ourselves of the habits and thought patterns that lead us down the path to having a bad day (or week, month or year!).

Let’s take a brief look at the things that take us down the road to nowhere good, so we can acknowledge and avoid them in our lives.

Our experience of life is directly related to our expectations. What follows is an unmistakable recipe for having terrible days (and beyond):

  • Expect others to be there primarily to serve you and meet your needs and desires. You are the center of the universe. Everyone around you is (or should be) thinking about how to make your life easier and ensure your continual happiness and satisfaction.
  • Expect all circumstances to line up perfectly with no problems, challenges or delays. Other people can have things break down, flights delayed, bad weather for an outdoor event, but not you. You are special and life is supposed to flow freely and effortlessly for you.
  • Expect all your desires and wishes (even reality-based ones) to be met now, regardless of any external circumstances. Hard work and perseverance are over-rated, and really only apply to those less talented and as gifted you. Patience is a virtue for those who don’t have something better to do with their time. You deserve whatever you want and you deserve it NOW.
  • Expect others to fawn over you and tell you how great you are and never criticize or critique your work. The only reason people should not be complimenting you and lauding praise over you (and everything you do) is either because: (a) they are too blind or stupid to see your giftedness, or (b) they are so overwhelmed with your greatness that they don’t have words to express their awe.
  • Expect all possible good results to come to fruition (including other positive results you didn’t even think of originally). Attaining achievements and reaching goals is what life is about (if that’s what you want to do) and you expect to reach your goals quickly, with a minimum amount of effort and be able to move on to the next area of interest you have. If you happen to not seem to reach an intended goal, it is almost certainly due to the fact that either other people didn’t support you like they should have, or you realized the goal really wasn’t worth pursuing.
  • Expect to feel good physically, emotionally, relationally and spiritually every day when you wake up. Other people are doomed to age, not look beautiful, have emotional down times, have unexpected relational break-ups or question what life is about. But not you. You are predestined to live above the daily circumstances and challenges everyone else in the world experiences. Why should you? You are the Golden One. It’s just that not everyone else realizes it yet.

These may seem like extreme examples, but any of us can fall into having unrealistic expectations for life (although hopefully in a milder form than these!). And many of us have come across a person who seems to think this way about the world and their place in it. Hopefully this list serves as a reminder of where these extreme beliefs can lead and how the related expectations insure you will have a terrible, awful, really bad day.

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For some reality-based help with dysfunctional colleagues, here are two resources you may find helpful: Rising Above a Toxic Workplace, or Making Things Right at Work.

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September 12, 2022 9:00 am

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