Seeing Red Can Mess With Your Head

(And the success of your day!)

Have you ever had one of those days were you wake up and you see that pair of socks that your child has been leaving at the door for many years, but today’s the day you see red.

Or your partner doesn’t shut the kitchen cupboard properly and instead of your normal reaction to just do it your self and say nothing, today’s the day, steam comes out of your ears,your face turns beetroot and the whole world says “Wow, what’s up with her?”

We all have those days, okay so some more than others. But even the calmest person can sometimes see red. And the impact that can have on your day can be pretty dire.

So how can you claw back the normal happy you?

How can you get rid of that frustrated, tearful ready to rip the head of a teddy mood?

First things first.

Deep breath.

When you get stressed you breathe a lot shallower, so take 3 deep breaths. If the house is going crazy because of the roar mood you helped unleash on it, hide in the bathroom for 5 minutes. Wash your hands very slowly. Find a shelf to put the labels all round the right way, anything ideally as pointless and mind numbing as possible.

Become very aware that if you continue in this frame of mind, it could impact on your whole day. That meeting, the drive to work, the weeks shopping that needs doing, the trip to the bank. Whether fun things or chores fill your day, just imagine how negative you could feel about them if you allow this mood to continue. So the choice is yours. Stop it or allow it flow.

If you really can’t stop then give yourself half an hour before you tackle any important task to go for a walk or something that allow your mind to clear. What works for you? Knowing the answer to this when you are calm is ideal for that moment when you’re seeing red. When you see red its very hard to think clearly – another reason to ditch that mood!

Concentrate on a task that you would normally neglect. Giving your mind something new to work on can be enough to get your mind interested in a new direction and shift that big angry cloud from over your head.

Don’t listen to the person that says “Snap out of it” There is nothing faster to wind you up and make you disagree with someone than when someone tell s you what to do. So steer clear of those people. If you know thats the response you will get, don’t tell them how you are feeling.

Phone a friend you CAN talk to. Its an obvious one but sometimes just sharing how you are feeling is enough to feel listened to, acknowledged and that you can handle it. You may realise that things need to change because the red fog is happening more often, but it could just be a bad day. And we all have one of those. As I like to say if you didn’t have bad days how would you know what a good day looks like?

Get distracted, get proactive and know that with in your mind is the power to stop that bad filthy mood in an instant, it has to start with a wish in your head to achieve that.

That or you have to accept that seeing red will mess with your head, and can potentially wreck your day, now do you want that?