Have you ever had one of those mornings that starts out so badly you consider just going back to bed?

That was my yesterday.

I hadn’t even opened my eyes when BOTH my children began making demands of me.  To make matters worse, when I said, “no.  you’ll have to wait. mama’s sleeping,” BOTH of them stormed off, haughty at the injustice of their lives.

There’s nothing like feeling taken for granted first thing in the morning to set my mood for the rest of the day. I stomped around the house for a good part of the morning (it was only 6:30AM after all) feeling completely justified in my frustration until, after plenty of fuming and grumping, I made a choice:

I didn’t want the rest of my day to be dictated by one unfortunate event at the very beginning.  I didn’t want to be controlled by my emotional reactions.

I went to my family, tail only slightly between my legs, and apologized for my grumpiness. I asked to restart our day, and after they graciously accepted my apologies, and granted my request for a do over, guess what… the foreboding bad-day ahead dissipated instantaneously.

Here’s the thing you guys, we’re all doing the best we can with what we have – whether that’s information, resources, or stamina. No one out there is saying, Hey, let’s try being the grumpiest people we can! Nope. Not a single one of us.

Sometimes emotions get the best of us. We react without thinking, and that can leave us feeling pretty grumpy. But our reactions don’t need to take over our days or our lives. We can pause in those difficult moments, even if ever so briefly, and choose to turn on a light. Our struggles can become our guideposts.

I may not be able to tell you what direction those guideposts will take you, but I can remind you to turn on the light so you can see them when it gets dark.

Trust that you have everything you need to make the most of this incredible life – bumps and all. And for those moments when you can’t see your reactions without getting swept away in them, know that you’ve landed at a fork in the road where you can give yourself a lot of grief and judgement, or you can give yourself a lot of grace.

Make a habit of turning towards grace and it’ll be a whole lot easier to see where those guideposts are taking you.  Embrace the journey, with eyes wide open, and watch the bad days and difficult moments steer you in the right direction every time.