What I Learned From My Worst Day of 2025 So Far

I woke up on a cold April morning with a strange feeling in my stomach, like something was going to happen, but I didn’t know what. I had no idea that the day would turn into the worst one of my year so far. But even though everything went wrong, I somehow learned something valuable.

When Everything Went Wrong
The day started off easy. I had a plan: finish a blog post for WordPress ( I’ve recently gotten excited about), have coffee with a friend, and finally go through my messy inbox. But, of course, things didn’t go as planned.
Midway through, my laptop crashed with no warning, just a blank screen. And of course, I hadn’t saved in over an hour. I spent 45 minutes with tech support, only to be told, (You might need to start over.)Great.

I was already late, so I texted my friend to reschedule. She was upset, and I understood why. We had been trying to meet for weeks. I felt like a terrible friend.

Then, I got an email rejection from a writing contest I had put so much effort into. (Not the right fit,) it said. It hurt more than I expected. I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d ever be the right fit for anything.but the email was from kind sender!

The Breaking Point
To lift my mood, I decided to cook pasta. But while scrolling through social media to distract myself, I forgot about the pot on the stove. Suddenly, the smoke alarm went off, and the kitchen filled with the smell of burnt garlic and regret.

I opened the windows, waved a dish towel at the smoke, and sat on the floor, laughing and crying at the same time. How had everything gone so wrong in just one day?

It was around then that I realized, I hadn’t taken a break in weeks. I had been pushing myself every single day, juggling multiple tasks, telling myself I didn’t have time to rest. Maybe this day was my body and mind’s way of saying, ‘Enough.’ Burnout isn’t always obvious until it hits you hard.

Finding the silver lining
After cleaning up, I grabbed a notebook and started writing. In the middle of all the these terrible situations I realized two things.
First: I need to be kinder to myself. I’d been hard on myself over everything, but life happens. I’m human, and we make mistakes.
Second: Always have a backup for both my work and my emotions. I need to save my files more often and have a plan for tough days. Whether it’s texting a friend or playing a happy song, I need to be ready for the hard moments too.

I also thought about how many of us go through days like this and never talk about them. We only post the pretty parts online. But messy days, burnt pasta, and rejection emails. they’re real, and they connect us more than we realize. Maybe if we shared them more, we’d feel less alone.

Moving Forward With Grace
I ended the day with takeout (no more cooking for me) and rewrote the blog post. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a start. And strangely, I felt grateful for the lessons, the clarity, and even the burnt pasta.

The truth is, I’ve had better days. But I’ve also had worse ones. What made this one different was that I decided to pause, reflect, and grow from it. That’s something I wouldn’t have done a year ago. So maybe, just maybe, I’m learning.

So here’s to the rest of 2025 hoping it’s a little easier. But if not, I’ll be ready.

What’s the worst day you’ve had this year? Please tell me I’m not the only one going through this chaos. Let’s talk about it. Because sometimes, sharing the chaos is the first step to finding calm.