Which Side of the Bed?

We all know that saying: “I woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” It means you woke up in some sort of bad mood. The radio station I listen to actually talked about this the other day. They quoted some article, saying that out of the 365 days in a year, we wake up grumpy for 300 of those days. 300! That’s a lot of days to wake up on the wrong side of the bed.

So why is that? Why do most of our morning start off with us being in a sour mood? It could be that we didn’t get enough sleep. Our bodies are deprived and that effects your mindset. Maybe you got enough sleep, but you work a physically taxing job? You wake up sore with your body popping and cracking and wish you can just rolling back over and sleep the day away. Maybe it has nothing to do with your physical state? If you’re mentally exhausted, emotionally exhausted, so on and so forth that can effect your attitude in the morning too. Maybe you have a job you have to get ready for that you don’t like? You’re in a sour mood because you have to go back to work.

Whatever the reason you get up on the wrong side of the bed, I want to challenge you to go to battle with your bad mood. Choose to fight for a better mood to help set your day off right. Some people go to religion to help with that. They take a moment to spend time with their creator. Others think about the day ahead and form a plan to tackle it. Some go right back to bed to wake up on the right side later. Or maybe you roll over a kiss your significant other?

As for me, I work a physically taxing job so I’m one of those who pop and crack and have to stretch when I get up in the morning. Some days it’s a real battle to get out of bed. I’m one of those who doesn’t like to talk much in the morning. It usually takes my drive to work, listening to the radio, to get me going. Yet, even on those days where my body wants to stay in bed, I just want to grumble that I’m too tired to go to work today, I try to focus on getting up on the right side of the bed. I think about my plans for the day: what I might be doing at my job or what I have planned for my weekend and I try to focus on the bright sides. I love my job and all the things I get to do there. I enjoy my weekends because I get to sleep in, and work on my writings (like this here blog post), and I can play my games and catch up on shows. There’s a lot of bright sides when I slow down and take the time to find them.

A lot of times, people focus on what they HAVE to do. “Oh, I have to get that blog post done.” “I have to cut the grass.” “I have to go to work.” “I have to do that thing and another,” like it’s long list of chores and they want you to pity them for not having any free time. But what if, instead of “HAVE TO,” we focus more on “I GET to.” “Oh, I get to write a blog post to promote my writings that over 50 people subscribed to.” “I get to cut the grass because I own this house with a big yard for my dogs/kids.” “I get to go to work, make a difference, and get paid to support my family/dreams.” “I get to do this thing and the other because it’s a privilege.” I believe there’s always a silver lining if you look for it and if you can’t find it, then maybe its time for a change?

Let’s try to change the statistic together. Instead of waking up on the wrong side of the bed 300 days of the year, let’s wake up on the wrong side less than that. Let’s choose to take a stand in the morning and start the day off in a good mood. Fight to see the bright side despite all the negativity. Being in a good mood and interacting with others can help others reach that good mood status too. Time to change up the morning routine and get up on the right side of the bed.