It’s really not that…
Bad. It’s a 3-letter word used in many ways many times per day. We use it to describe foods we dislike, outfits we try on, a child’s behavior, or to an outcome of a choice that did not go as planned. It’s used in song titles and to define smells that make us wince. The word “bad” has a big negative impact and there’s really no way to put a positive spin on this small word.
Many times, I’ve had clients come into session and say “oh, it’s been a bad week”. Through discussion we would discover that the week was not entirely bad but confirmed there were rough patches and tough moments. We would work on seeing those situations from different perspectives and separating those moments from the entirety of the week.
Professionally and personally, I’ve adopted the non-use of the word bad. I work with clients of all ages to consider, and practice, implementing different adjectives to describe what they’ve been through.
Example: a client that was school avoidant would have a “bad day” because they experienced an increase in anxiety that stopped them from entering the school building. That client and I would change the descriptors to experiencing a “rough morning” and would then focus on finding the positives from the rest of the day. Yes, the morning was rough and was mentally exhausting for the client but they would find positives within the rest of the day that helped change their perspective. Over time the mindset would change, instances were no longer generalized to the entire day and/or week, and those instances had less impact on the client’s wellbeing.
The word ‘bad’ has its place and absolutely can be used but what if only sparingly? If we made an active attempt to change our wording, change our perspective, and stop defining things as bad, maybe we would be able to increase our overall wellness. Get creative with your adjectives and add some flare! Really put effort into decreasing the negative and increasing the positive spin on your days. Sometimes we really do find peace by gaining different perspectives.