When I was a little girl, my mom and I developed a phrase that we can say to restart our days. It stemmed from the mornings when we were both rushing, her to get to work, and for me to make it to the bus on time. Whenever we were late and snapping at each other in the morning rush we would take the time to use the “magic words” that helped so much… “Finnegan Begin Again.” Every time we took a moment to use Finnegan Begin Again, the morning seemed tolerable, and not unlike the calm after the storm.

It was one of our most used and most valuable tools. I used it a lot when I was younger. It has now become, for me, synonymous with a fresh start, and a renewal. However, I realize now that I haven’t used it as much as I should have. For such a wonderfully powerful tool that helped me so much while I was growing up, I had forgotten why I needed it in the first place, and I had forgotten why it is so helpful.

Recently, I found myself needing to use it more than ever before in my adult life. I was having a terrible day, where everything that could have gone wrong did. In fact, not only did everything go wrong, but everything went so spectacularly wrong that all I wanted was for my day to be over. By the middle of the day, I was overwhelmed, exhausted, and snapping at the people I care about the most in the world. I could feel that I was struggling, but I didn’t know what to do to turn the day around.

By the evening, I was miserable. I reached out to my best friend, who has always been able to handle me at my worst, especially on days like that one. She also always knows how to make a bad day better. I told her about my day, caught her up on all of the things stressing me out, and got incredibly worked up and emotional. Her suggestion to me was to take a moment, take some deep breathes, and collect myself.

It was then that I realized a Finnegan Begin Again was in order.

I stopped everything, for just a few minutes, told myself “Finnegan Begin Again,” took some deep breathes, and started my day anew. And it helped. It was as if I was in the eye of the storm. I was calm and still for the first time that day.

The day I had was still crazy, I was still tired, the work I needed to get done was still there waiting for me, but I felt more like myself, and I knew I would be able to handle the rest of the day and what it threw at me. The overwhelming feeling of stress that had been looming over my day got easier to deal with. I was able to talk to people without snapping or becoming snarky. From that point, moving forward with my day was much easier, and I was able to tackle the things I needed to get done without issue.

When I start to feel myself getting overwhelmed, overworked, overextended, or just stressed out, I reach for those faithful words. It is never too late to restart your day. And whenever you do, it can seriously help to make whatever is left of that day much better.

I am now trying to teach my friends about the principle of Finnegan Begin Again, so I can spread its powerful effects, and help anyone who sometimes just needs a fresh start. The silly rhyme from my childhood has thankfully stuck with me into adulthood, and It is one of the best ways I have found to help cope with frustrations, disappointments, and stress.

So just remember the next time you are feeling stressed out, a little overwhelmed, or just need to find the eye of your personal storm, remember: Finnegan Begin Again.