Have you ever had a bad day? I don't mean the kind where you break a nail, snag your hose or lose a front parking place. I'm talking about the kind of day that makes you want to crawl under the covers and suck your thumb while crying for your Mommy.

For me those are the kind that come back and hit me when I least expect it: perhaps I've said or done something stupid that I wish I could take back or jumped to conclusions that caused me to incorrectly respond to a given situation.

How do you "snap out of it" as Cher yelled at Nicholas Cage in Moonstruck?

I have known people who allow a minor disappointment or occurrence to color their entire day. I feel sad for their self imposed misery.

When I'm having a bad day, I try these tricks:

- If I get out on the wrong side of the bad; overslept, break a nail, have an argument with my kids, I turn the day around by putting on my favorite color. It's hard to stay in a bad mood when you are cloaked in your favorite sweater or necktie.

- If I say or do something stupid and the damage is done; after apologizing, if necessary or fixing the situation, I give myself a little pep talk. I search for the humor if possible.

- If the weather is getting me down, I take a moment and search the Internet or my computer photo files for a picture of my favorite place.

- If my computer is giving me fits - I get up and take a walk around the office, find a different environment to sit in for 10 minutes so I can collect myself before tackling the dreaded but oh so necessary tool of my trade.

- However, if I spend 7 hours talking to automated phone messages where just five minutes with a live person would have solved the problem, I may find myself responding like the people in this Bad Day video: Hey, I'm not perfect!

How do you handle a bad day?

Deborah Chaddock Brown
Writer