Have you ever had a bad day? A day where everything seemed to go wrong? A day where within just a few hours of being awake, you consider going back to sleep and trying again tomorrow? Well, last Monday was one of those days for me. Let me start from the beginning.

I groggily open my eyes and look at the time on my phone, (in hopes of having a few more hours of rest) to find that it was an hour past the time I had intended to wake up. I spring up from my bed, realizing I must have forgotten to set an alarm. I hop into the shower, and just as I’ve gotten my hair all shampoo-ed up, the lights begin to flicker and then go out completely. Only slightly agitated at this point, I stumble through the dark just long enough to rid my hair of the suds, and then I head to the kitchen. I soon come to the saddening realization that the Keurig needs power to work, so a cup of coffee was not going to happen (If you know me, you know that this is a problem). So I sit down for a breakfast by candlelight; two slices of bread (not toast, bread) with peanut butter. I then throw myself together, feeling less than presentable, but not entirely concerned. I head out the door with just enough time to remain within a close range of the speed limit (no mom, I don’t speed) and make it to my 8:00 class. All is momentarily well until I come up to the (you might have guessed it) road work. While I’m stuck in the traffic that has now come to an almost complete halt, I tell myself the undeniable truth, today is just going to be a bad day.

I get to school, find a parking spot about five miles away from my class, and grumble to myself as I start walking. After what feels like three miles into my perilous journey, I get a notification on my phone for my daily bible verse. And it said:

Ecclesiastes 7:14 “In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.”

I don’t know that I would consider it divine intervention, but I couldn’t help but have chills as I read the verse over and over and over.

It was in this moment that I realized I was in dire need of a reality check. So I woke up an hour late? Yes, but I woke up with my head on a pillow that I have the comfort of sleeping on every night. And I had to rinse my hair in complete darkness? Yes, but I have hot, clean, running water at the turn of a faucet. So I didn’t get to toast my bread? Yes, but I never have to worry about having food on my plate, or wonder where my next meal is coming from. All of these little things I had compiled into a list of reasons for deeming it a “bad day," were so insignificant and unsubstantial.

Bad days are going to happen. It’s okay to be frustrated and irritated, but I encourage you not to stay that way for long. Don’t get so wrapped up in the “bad," that you forget about all the good.