New things

New things make me happy.

Sharpening a pencil for the first time.
Cleaning a counter off before cooking.
Shoveling snow that has not been tracked through.
Mornings.
First days of work (for me or others).
New notebooks.
A new operating system on my computer.
A box of crayons and a coloring book that has not been colored in.
A hardback book, fresh from the book-store.
Babies.
Packages on my doorstep (and even envelopes in my mail box).

New things can be wonderful and they can remind us that every day is new and that we only have so much time with the day before it's old. . and gone.

Take some time to look at the new around you.  Really pay attention to everything that's available.  It will become easier over time and it will make your days better.  It will make today a good day.

Rituals help.

Finding things that make you happy isn't always easy. And when being happy is hard for you, it's even harder to spread the joy around to other people and help make today a good day for them.

Rituals can make the process easier. 

Find something that makes a day better and do it everyday. Your ritual can be something you do, or something your eat, or something you think.  It just has to be yours, it has to be repeatable, and it has to make you happy.

If you don't have a happy ritual yet make one today.  Pick something you are going to do and do it with a purpose; do it with the goal of making today better. If you have coffee in the morning or walk the dog, that could be your happiness ritual.

Nike had the right idea, "just do it".  Doing it on purpose makes it better.  It makes today better.  It helps make today a good day. 

 Photo via Plinkk via Flickr Creative Commons

Don't delay the happy.

Some things are worth waiting for;  although true love is all I can think of right now . . and even then, "mostly true love" can usually get you through the night and might become true love.

Being happy though? You should do that right away.  You should take what you have in your life right now and be happy about it.  It doesn't have to be AMAZING happy either.  It can be small happys.

The important thing is not to create an attitude of "something in the future is going to make me happy."  That future may never come or that thing you need to be happy may never happen.  Perhaps it won't live up to your expectations.

Find something today, right now, that you can be happy about.  Think nearer term and make that happiness happen.

Make today a good day . . starting now.

Nothing lasts

There are many, many people that live unhappy lives.  They are unhappy with their work or their family or the choices they made yesterday or choices they made years ago.  Co-workers or kids acting up can be a drain on the life they are trying to live.

The good news is that nothing lasts.

Nothing is going to be the same as it was.  People and situations will change whether you do something or do nothing at all.  All those stressful things will pass.

Enjoying the good things in your life now is a good thing . . because nothing lasts.
Letting go of the stressful things now is a good thing . . . because nothing lasts.
Doing the right thing while you have the chance is a good thing . . because nothing lasts.

Making today a good day, right here, right now is the best thing.

Who are you?

Start small; what would you want to be on your headstone?


"Beloved Spouse"?
"A Friend to All"?
“Devoted Wife and Loving Mother”?
“Wonderful father and faithful to the end”?

A little harder now; what would you want in your obituary?

Would it be a standard "So-and-so was survived by so-and-so and dies after short illness,"?  Or would it be more about your life?  What you had done?

Now for the big money question; what would your eulogy say about you?
Would your eulogy talk about your accomplishments?  Would it talk about the people you touched? 

Are you who you want to be?  What's stopping you?

A good life is made up of good days.  And good days only happen if you are doing what you want to be doing.  They only happen if you are doing what you were meant to be doing.

I want "Today is a good day" to be the theme of my headstone, my obituary, and eulogy.  My sister's funeral is my standard for "horrible, terrible, very bad days" it was also a time to remember wonderful things about her.  I can only hope that my life, well lived, will lead to a celebration at my death.  I want people to talk about how I made days better for other people.

Who are you?  How will you be remembered?

Reward yourself.

Small successes can make for a good day.  It's great if those small success are recognized by our friends or co-workers, or supervisors but that doesn't always happen.  Rewarding yourself is always a winning plan.

I have a large yard.  It can take hours to mow.  I've implemented a system whereby, based on outside temperature and grass length, I get beer tokens that I can cash in for adult beverages.

[Granted, I really enjoy mowing the lawn most days.  It gives me a repetitive task that requires little thought itself where I can either think about things or think about nothing.  It's two to three hours of good day in any case.]

If you don't have your dream job, if you are just marking time until something better comes along, you probably need something to keep you going more than a paycheck in two weeks.  So perhaps a stash of chocolate should be part of your make-today-a-good-day-by-rewarding-myself kit.

You should know where the closest craft store is if that's what makes you happy so you can pop in and get some scrap-booking thing.  Or maybe you need to keep a Starbucks or iTunes or Amazon gift card charged and ready for when you deserve a reward.

If exercise or napping is what you love to do reward yourself with time for either when you deserve it . . because you deserve it.

Go ahead.  Reward yourself.  Make today a good day.

Water. Electricity.

Everyone reading this has fresh water and electricity.  Stop for a second and think about that.  You can shower or drink whenever you want.  You have lights at any hour you want.  Those things should be able to make today a good day.

In undeveloped countries and here in the US millions of hours are spent getting water.  Water that can likely make you sick . .  but it's better than nothing.

When you day is horrendous and you can't think of one good thing . . remember that you were able to brush your teeth this morning; remember you could turn on a light in your kitchen to make your coffee. 

Consider for a moment that the poor in developed countries would be considered rich in under-developed ones.

http://www.coe1.org/
http://www.charitywater.org/
http://movingwindmills.org/