Low-Energy Days--A Paragraph a Day

Some days just aren't our best days, are they?  One of my biggest difficulties in life is recognizing such days and letting them be what they are instead of continuing to try to fight against them and accomplish things that I'm simply not able to accomplish on such days.  This is by no means a defeatist attitude, as many self-help people might want you to believe.  Rather, it's a perspective that is very similar to the attitude that Longfellow showed over 200 years ago when he wrote, "Some days must be dreary."  I don't know why some people try to convince us that we should always be up, that we should always have a smile on our faces, that we should always be charging ahead and accomplishing something.  Just as I'm not going to be running a marathon if I have a broken leg, I'm not going to try to act cheerful and bright on a day when I don't feel that way.  And sure, I know the theory about "fake it 'til you make it," but I'm pretty sure that we don't always have to be making things.  Some days are meant for staying inside, resting, reading something we like, drinking coffee and eating pie.  Not every day is going to be high-energy and full of accomplishment, and it's important that we listen to our bodies and our spirits when they tell us they need a day for recharging, for just being.  There's nothing wrong with a dreary day, and they can be just as enjoyable as any other day if we accept them and let them be what they are.

The Rainy Day

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart, and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow