9. Even the worst days last only 24 hours.

There are days when everything seems to go wrong. When one bad thing follows another. We all have these days. As parents of a child with disabilities we have had, and continue to have days like these almost regularly.

There are days of set-backs and regression in the child’s development. Days when you are confronted with the brutal reality of her disabilities, and the gap that seems to widen between her and other kids her age. On such days, it’s easy to get discouraged, even depressed.

In addition to that, you have the “regular” bad stuff that are just part of normal life. Challenges and setbacks at work; disappointments in your relationships with people; home appliances and cars break down, and the list goes on.

On days like this it’s easy for doubts and fears to take over. You feel less confident, less worthy, and even unlucky. You say to yourself: why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this? When will something good finally happen to me?

That’s when it’s important to remember one simple fact. Even the worst day lasts only 24 hours. Tomorrow is a new day, with new possibilities, and opportunities. A restart. If you adopt this mindset, then most often the next day turns out to be much better. The bad stuff is already in the past, and the present day is an opportunity for something good to happen.

In fact, soon after the birth of my daughter, I started a new ritual. Every night, before falling asleep, I say to myself: something good is going to happen. And every morning, when I wake up, before I get out of bed, I say to myself that something great is going to happen today. It may be a silly ritual, but it’s useful. Before going to sleep, it reminds me that whatever happened in the past day, is already in the past and there is no point in dwelling over it. In the morning, it gives me a positive outlook for the day ahead.

And yet, the same 24-hour duration applies to good days too. Therefore, one should not get overly excited when good things happen. Because nothing guarantees that it will happen again the next day. We need to continue doing the right things, with a clear purpose, and be the best that we can be 24 hours at a time.

Here are links to Part 1,  Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 and Part 8 of this 10-part post, in case you didn’t get a chance to read them yet.