I’ve had what most would refer to as a “bad week.” I could give you a list of what all went wrong, but it consists of the run-of-the-mill struggles every college student experiences- just compounded. Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong. It’s not a good feeling; it feels like my week has defeated me. I know it’s not typical to tell the internet how bad of a day or week you have had, but I feel like it’s important to share. People learn from each other’s experiences, even the shitty ones, so let’s be real with each other for a moment.
I am writing to you in the mindset of someone who has just had a horrible week. I feel like I don’t have a positive bone in my body. I’m not sharing this so that you too may wallow in misery, but that maybe we can process this together.
Step 1
Let’s be honest. If I’m honest with you about how I’m feeling, that draws it to the forefront of my mind. I’m not disregarding my feelings, I’m confronting them. If I were to mask my misery and tell you that I was feeling great, that would create the perfect environment for me to suppress my feelings. Suppressing your feelings and traumas brings on far more consequences than crying in front of your friends ever will. Being honest about how you’re feeling takes the load off. Talking with your friends and loved ones about your rough week makes it feel like you aren’t in it alone anymore. So here we are everyone, I am having a terrible week and you’re all witnessing it. I feel a little better now that someone’s listening.
Step 2
Here’s the worst part: now I have to figure out why I am having a bad week. It’s so easy for me to go through my week, get upset here and there, and then never think about the events that upset me again. I like to move on with my day and search for something to make it better. Though this isn’t always a bad technique, it’s not healthy to ignore what made you upset in the first place. Sometimes I will go a whole week in the same routine, doing the same thing that’s making me upset and not realize it because I haven’t stopped to sit in the unpleasant feeling. Nobody wants to feel bad, so we tell ourselves to stop feeling that feeling and move on, but that doesn’t solve anything. We must listen to our emotions, they are giving us insights we may not see on our own. Let’s sit in something that made us upset this week, together. It will literally take 5 minutes:
What happened right before the bad feelings came? Is there something I can change? What steps can I take to get what is needed for myself in this type of situation?
I think I have found a couple of culprits to my bad week. Maybe I can approach the situation differently this time, now that I have thought about it.
Step 3
Okay, now I know why I had a bad week and how to cope with the causes next time they should come up. Here’s the fun part, let’s cheer ourselves up! My way of cheering myself up will be to publish this article, believe it or not. My most helpful coping skill is, in fact, writing. When I’m upset it’s really comforting to me that I can still make beautiful words and do my favorite thing ever, which happens to be writing. Doing something you love can prove to yourself that you can still do great things even when you aren’t feeling your best.
Also, writing this article about my terrible week forced me to process the events and take responsibility for my wellness. Sometimes the simple things can be really therapeutic and make you feel like there’s still hope even on your worst days. Now I get to share my rotten week with all of you with the hopes that after reading this (or even writing your own article), we will all be ready for next week to be not-so-terrible.