We’ve all read that childhood book called “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.” And we all can relate to it as well. But it seems like sometimes, ok, a lot of times, it’s not just a day, it turns into a week, a month or even a year. It seems like no matter what, things don’t work out, everything goes wrong and no matter how hard we try, it’s just our terrible, no good day.
I just had one of those days, ok never mind, it lasted about two weeks where everything broke loose. No matter what I seemed to do, it wasn’t enough, no matter how hard I tried, it was not going to work out and have a happy ending.I actually ended up watching, “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.” It made me feel tons better! I was ready to pack up and move to Australia just like Alexander, ok maybe not Australia, but I was ready to pack up and head to Disneyland because that is my all time favorite place to be 🙂
It is very comforting to know that we all go through these periods that are just terrible. So how do we get through them? It’s always so easy to look at other people and say, “this is how you should handle this,” “If I were you I would do this.” It’s so easy looking in from the outside, but when you are going through it yourself it seems to be the hardest thing and that there is no way that we can get through it.
The first and foremost thing that I turned to to help me was prayer. I could not have gotten through my hard time without prayer. It is so comforting to know that he is there waiting and willing to listen to you no matter what it is. Our Heavenly Father can take a lot of the pain and hurt away from us if we ask.
I also read a talk given by Elder David A. Bednar called, “In the Strength of the Lord.” It was fantastic!! It talks about how we can use the Atonement in our lives everyday. It is not just for sinning and repenting in the way that we all think. We can also use the Atonement in our lives when we are going through a hard time. It helped to bring great perspective and gave me great ideas to get through my rough patch(es). You can find the talk here at https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2004/10/in-the-strength-of-the-lord?lang=eng
Another great resource during our hard times are our families. Chances are, our parents have gone through something similar and so they might have some great insight into our problems. And even if they haven’t gone through it, it helps a ton to talk to someone and get it out. Usually when you talk to someone you get your thoughts out and can organize them so that you can find solutions easier. Our families are great listeners because they LOVE us! They want to help us figure it out and so they will listen to us and try to help us find an answer.
You must always remember that YOU WILL GET THROUGH IT! Our Heavenly Father knows what we need and he is always mindful of us and our problems. We will never be left alone. Our terrible periods will always end and it usually ends up that we are stronger and better because of it. When I was younger and I would have a bad day, my mom would always say, “Tomorrow is always fresh with no mistakes in it.” We always have another day to look forward to. We don’t always have control over what happens during our day but we do have control on how we react and what we do with our trials.
Just like in the story of Alexander, our bad days, weeks, months, or even years sometimes, will come to an end. We will get through our trials. They never last forever. YOU CAN GET THROUGH IT!! We have all been there where it seems like we will never make it through. We always do and we will be stronger, and better because of it!