turning a bad day in a good day

[Olaf]

When I woke up today, I felt like shit, as I was watching the football game with Norway. I was for Norway, but they fucking sucked, jeez, it was bad. Anyways, today I wasn't in the right mood, couldn't get myself to be productive whatsoever. But instead of giving up, I smiled, I laughed and went through the shit, just sit it out and keep going, which led to one of my best days.

I feel that anyone is gonna have bad days, but that isn't an excuse to keep it bad. I feel that if you keep going, going a bit longer even on whatever you are trying to do with your life lol. Whatever you are working on, that if you keep going on those shitty days where you just want to go home and sleep and say fuck you world, I don't want to talk to anyone.

Yet if you keep going and you smile, you laugh, you will have a breakthrough moment. On good days, it is easy, yet who cares about easy good days? We can all win if we are having a good day, it is more interesting to win on bad days as that SHAPES you. That makes you realise that nothing can stop you, not your bad/tired/grumpy mood, neither the world and outside circumstances. Keep going, in the end the secret to success is simple, keep going, yet the execution of that principle is hard, who can keep going on a bad day with a smile? If you can, success is within reach. 

[Ulax]

Good stuff man. I agree

[UpperMaster]

Yea bro, I can totally see how pushing yourself to live life fully despite being in a bad mood/bad day can turn a bad day into a good day.

That said, I think we must be careful about forcefully trying to be happy (not saying your doing that, I just thought it be a good thing to add to the conversation) 

This is a recent thought/opinion..I feel like it is dangerous to demonize/avoid  your negative emotions. Half your days are below average by definition. Recently, I am coming to the realization that it is actually important to feel into all your emotions even negative ones. They have a function. Having negative emotions is completely normal. Avoiding them causes more issues then not. 

I feel like in the past I tried to overly control my emotions..as I thought if I had my emotions in control then I could easily manifest success in the material world. In retrospect this was hella dumb of me. The more i try to control my emotions the worse the problem gets. Also it is helpful I guess to realise that your outward actions can be positive despite you being in a poor mood (which is what I think you did). 

 

[Olaf]

@UpperMaster sure, inner healing is important. How would you say you would approach a bad day nowadays differently then before? I am curious

[Zigzag Idiot]

@Olaf Good self observations you made! You noticed the dividend it payed back in terms of energy. More conscious awareness,,, Higher degree of being,,, Understanding human behavior better

 

1 hour ago, UpperMaster said:

This is a recent thought/opinion..I feel like it is dangerous to demonize/avoid  your negative emotions. Half your days are below average by definition. Recently, I am coming to the realization that it is actually important to feel into all your emotions even negative ones. They have a function. Having negative emotions is completely normal. Avoiding them causes more issues then not. 

@UpperMaster  Excellent commentary and to the point. 

A trap many people fall into, not to mention actualizers of denying their own negative feelings. Repression grows the shadow. In the fourth way work this is called the second conscious shock. Turning a negative experience into a positive one. Usually accomplished in part by "holding one's tongue", as the saying goes. I'll give an example that happened in my past. I was trading into a new Subaru. When the salesman told me the offer on my old Hyundai. The adrenaline hit. I was angry and he could see it. I hadn't said anything yet and was stewing,,,, As is said in the Work, It was hot in the kitchen! After several seconds had passed. He said, "Please, we shouldn't have to become antagonistic in what we're trying to accomplish". With what he said. It made me see myself and the ridiculous way that I could have spoken something in anger that would have knocked a lot of energy out of me. If you can kind of read into that situation,,, I actually smiled and later on, complemented him for how he handled my potential anger on hearing their offer for my trade in.  Speaking in anger is so easy to do and so difficult to not do. To not deny one's feelings but to not let the passion of anger turn one into an "unguided projectile" or an "unguided Golum" as one of my favorite Fourth Way teachers says. 

 

some notes-

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Understanding the Second Conscious Shock in the Fourth Way

In the Fourth Way teachings of P.D. Ouspensky, the first and second conscious shocks are key moments in the process of self-remembering and transformation. They are not random events but intentional, often difficult experiences designed to break habitual patterns and force awareness.

What the Second Conscious Shock Is

The second conscious shock typically follows the first conscious shock, which is the moment of sudden realization that you are acting mechanically or out of habit. The second shock is the experience of defeat or the tension between desire and inevitability — the moment when you confront the reality of your own mechanicalness and the lack of proper energy fourthwaytoday.org.

It is often described as:

A tension between the fire of your desire to remain present and the chill of the inevitable fall into old patterns fourthwaytoday.org.

A sacred direction in the octave of development, where the process of defeat becomes a catalyst for transformation fourthwaytoday.org.

A psychic death experience — the “life” of your habitual self is temporarily extinguished, creating a flatness or stillness that is not dullness, but a deep sense of peace and “all-rightness” gurdjiefflegacy.org.

How It Works with the First Shock

Ouspensky explains that the first shock is the recognition of mechanicalness; the second shock is the confrontation with the consequences of that mechanicalness. Together, they form a synergy — the first shock creates the awareness, the second shock deepens the transformation YouTube.

The second shock is not just about discomfort; it is about sacred direction — a moment when the process of defeat aligns with a higher purpose, leading to a shift in energy and awareness fourthwaytoday.org.

Purpose and Outcome

The second conscious shock:

Breaks habitual patterns by forcing a confrontation with the self.

Evokes transformation rather than just resistance.

Aligns the self with higher functions by moving beyond mechanical reaction into conscious, intentional action.

Can lead to a stable, inner peace and a deeper understanding of the temporal and eternal aspects of life gurdjiefflegacy.org.

Practical Context

In Gurdjieff’s groups, such shocks might be triggered by:

Sudden commands (“Stop!”) that interrupt habitual movement to-be-able.blogspot.com.

Intentional labor or discomfort that forces presence to-be-able.blogspot.com.

Moments of self-observation where you realize you are acting without awareness gurdjiefflegacy.org.

The goal is to stop the expression of negative emotions and to change attitudes so that the shock becomes a stepping stone toward higher consciousness SelfDefinition.Org.

In short: The second conscious shock is the moment when the realization of mechanicalness meets the reality of its consequences, creating a transformative “defeat” that, when integrated, moves you toward higher states of being in the Fourth Way.

 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by Zigzag Idiot
adding some notes- Fourth way jargon,,