The Secret To Having A Good Day

“Have a good day.”

How many times has someone said that to you?

Often, it’s just a perfunctory farewell from a cashier. Other times, it’s a genuine well-wish.

Most of the time, the person is simply saying, “I hope you have a good day.” But you can interpret the message another way … as an admonition.

We all have only so much time on this earth. Make the most of your day.

Good advice.

But what does that mean … and, more specifically, what does it mean to you?

Here’s my take as a life coach:

You can make the most of the day by accomplishing things … by doing. Seize the day and all that.

Or by focusing your intentions, aligning your energies, and manifesting what you want.

Or by simply being … enjoying the wonders of the world … spending time with family and friends.

All are good. Whatever makes you happy.

But here’s what I see. Most people put a heavy emphasis on doing and getting things done and not much emphasis at all on aligning with their inner being or experiencing wonder. That’s a mistake. A good day can come from just loving being alive.

And the thing about accomplishing things is that sometimes you don’t. Often, the best laid plans go awry or you encounter problems. And then where are you? You’re probably left having a “bad day” … stressed out and grinding away.

A much more sure way to have a good day is to simply decide to.

What if just being … and being happy … could be enough for it to be a good day?

Nothing has to be accomplished for it to be a good day. Nothing has to happen or not happen.

The trap we fall into … myself, the life coach, included … is we’re so busy taking care of business, trying to secure our future happiness, that we fail to make it a good day today.

And if we fail at that, we’re really failing at life.

I’m not sure joy or a happy life lend themselves to mathematical expression, but try this back-of-the-napkin calculation on for size.

Don’t worry. This is just a thought experiment. I don’t expect you to do any math! Just get an intuitive sense.

Take the number of great days you’ve experienced multiplied by 3. (Great days should count for more.)
Add your good days and subtract your bad days.
Subtract your really bad days multiplied by 3.
Subtract indifferent days (… the days that just kinda went by … ) multiplied by .5, since they’re not actually bad days, just kinda wasted days.
Assign different weightings if you like, but you get the gist.
Now divide that by the number of days you’ve been alive. If your rough calculation doesn’t yield a big positive number, something’s wrong.

The idea is simple. You want to maximize the number of good and great days and minimize the number of bad and really bad days. And good lord, days should never be just another 24 hours off the calendar.

Look, everybody’s gonna have bad days and some really bad days. That’s life … unless you’re a Zen monk or something. And it’s easy to say, “Yeah, maybe I’ll be able to enjoy the day once I get through this work … or I get my taxes done … or the kids are over the flu … or I can bend over without my back going out.”

But please remember … you have the ability to create more good days … and a better life … just by deciding to. Things don’t have to work out the way you hoped. Circumstances don’t have to line up. You don’t have to accomplish more.

You don’t have to DO anything really. Just imagine, appreciate and enjoy more … and grind away less.

Love,
Denise

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