We all have bad days. Days where you didn’t sleep well the night before, everything has gone wrong since you got out of bed, or for no reason at all. On these days, everything feels like a challenge. The smallest tasks feel monumental and the slightest inconveniences feel catastrophic. Your patience is worn down before you make it to breakfast and your fuse is short. It is just a matter of time before your partner winds up in the crossfire.

Unless, you do something about it.

Left unchecked, a day like this can lead to big withdrawals from your emotional bank account. Small interactions are likely to be negatively charged and, depending upon where you two are at, can set off larger conflicts. Engaging in a conflict discussion when you’re already in a bad mood is not setting yourself or your relationship up for success. You’re likely to get flooded faster and lose control.

So, what do you do?

Take responsibility for moving your bad mood from negative to neutral. Do something to shift your focus in a more positive direction. For example, you could do gratitude journaling until you fill up one page with things you’re grateful for, listen to music you love, or scroll through photos of feel good moments you’ve had. It’s important to observe and correct the self-talk cycling through your brain as well.

It likely sounds similar to: “This sucks. My day sucks. My life sucks. I hate this. This is horrible. This is never ending.”

In reality, this day sucks. Or push yourself further to consider the possibility that just this morning sucks. You have the power to turn it around.

In this week’s episode, we’re giving you strategies for managing a bad mood as an individual, as well as how to navigate these types of days in the context of your relationship. We’re talking about preventing and minimizing damage with the goal of sharing your world with your partner without making withdrawals from your emotional bank account.