With midterms approaching, I find myself becoming more stressed than usual.
This usually leads to me being in a bad mood, which results in me having a bad day.
I am glad to not know I am the only one who experiences this, but sometimes I feel like I am when I hear harsh comments from those around me.
My biggest pet peeve when I’m in said bad mood is those telling me things like, “It could be worse!” or “My day is worse so hush up!”
Please don’t tell me my bad day is nothing to get upset over.
Everyone is different and experiences life differently.
To me, the worst day ever could be failing an exam I studied really hard for, getting yelled at by my boss or a professor or not receiving a text back from the boy I like.
For others, the worst could be something more or less dramatic than that, but I have no right to judge because it did not affect me personally.
Recently a friend showed me an image of positive responses to negative comments.
I was inspired by this and decided to share a few that caught my attention.
For example, instead of responding with “You’ll get over it!” try saying something more validating like, “That is hard. You’ve done hard things before and I believe in you.”
That sounds more uplifting and empowering instead of telling someone to get over the current hardship in their life.
Yes, I understand some people can be dramatic and their bad day may seem a little far-fetched, but once again there is no right to judge them or their day.
Another response that caught my eye is, “See the good in everything.”
Usually I am a positive person and try my best to see the good in everything, but sometimes it is hard.
A better response for that would be, “It’s probably really hard to see any good in this situation. We’ll make sense of it all later.”
That response is more uplifting than the last.
Now I’m not telling you that you have to respond like this, but at least consider the other person’s feelings before you respond.
We are at a stage in our lives where we are expected to have it all together when inside some of us are actually falling apart.
Some of us decide to turn to others to lift us up, but sadly the response we are looking for are not given.
This sounds sad, but it is true.
I’d like to end this column with another response that I feel everyone should be told.
Instead of saying “Think happy thoughts,” turn to your friend and say, “It’s probably pretty hard to be positive right now, but I’m putting out good energy into the world for you.”
OLIVIA HAHNER
