When you inquire about the quality of someone’s day, what do you usually say? Do you say, “Are you having a good day?” or do you say, “Are you creating a good day?”
I’ve opted for the latter.
I don’t think anyone has a day, as someone might have a heart attack or have a baby. In this use, the day is happening to the person. In actuality, it’s the opposite; we happen to our day.
Of course, many of us create our day passively. The choices we make happen in the unconscious mind. And when you make unconscious choices, it’s easy to believe the illusion that you’re having – and not creating – a good or bad day.
When it rains, it rains – it’s neither bad nor good without our judgments. It takes a choice to decide that rain is bad. It’s just as easy to decide that rain is good – that it allows the grass to grow, that it’s a good time to catch up on reading or watch a movie, etc., etc.
So, we don’t have good days. We create good days by the choices we make. These choices come in the form of our perspectives, our relationships, our reactions, etc.
So, I ask you, “Are you creating a good day?”
March 11, 2009 at 10:12 am
Am I creating a good day?
I am at home, slightly nervous about going to my train station (to get to work) as I was nearly mugged coming home from there last night. But I’ll be brave.
Wordshock x
March 11, 2009 at 10:19 am
hI YOU NEED TO BE CAREFUL WALKING HOME ALONE, SO YOU WON’T BE MUGGED.
March 11, 2009 at 10:21 am
Creating a good day Paul? (Thanks btw xx)
March 11, 2009 at 11:32 am
Hi are you a real person Wordshock? And have you ever been to Memphis?
March 11, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Hi Paul,
I am a real person lol – last time I checked! My name is Chris and I haven’t been to Memphis
March 11, 2009 at 11:14 pm
Hi whad do ya mean creating?
March 11, 2009 at 10:47 am
I have never thought of it like that before, but I do believe that everybody’s day can be better if they would just let the small stuff roll off their shoulders and appreciate what they do have. Things will be difficult today, but I will do my best to make it a good day. Thanks.
March 11, 2009 at 10:58 am
Both “have” and “create” give too much emphasis to the individual “I.” “I am having, I am creating….a good day.” Perhaps the better word is “experience.” There is less emphasis on the “I.”
March 12, 2009 at 6:22 am
…but isn’t it ‘your’ day that you are experiencing? I don’t think that settng out to create a great day is a selfish proposition, but rather a concious decision to shift your focus to the positive that is in all things. Perception, I believe, is a concious choice. One can choose to see the good, the benefit…, the forward progress in all things in life and nature. I’m not saying that bad things don’t happen, or that any being has total control of every outcome, but I do believe that I have the ability to choose how I perceive to experience every day. I believe I can choose to ‘create’ a good day from whatever circumstances life puts in front of me. Abe Lincoln said “Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Making up ones mind, to me, implies choice. I choose to live free and create awesome days.
March 11, 2009 at 11:40 am
All Day Every Day…progress comes with “creating” it…not just leaving it up to chance…
Ciao!!!
March 11, 2009 at 11:54 am
I like your thinking and I think the same way about ‘creating’ my day, my life.
This is the first day I’ve read your blog and I’ll be back.
Even better, I like that you have introduced one new way to get some others to think about creating their day. ‘Are you creating a good day?’ may be the seed that gets one or many thinking in a new way.
Thanks – Since I’m good at creating my own day you are stretching me to help others they can do the same.
March 11, 2009 at 12:03 pm
I never though of it as creating a day i mean I’m only 15 so i don’t really have a choice of what i get to do for me its already planned out by adults (which i think is totally unfair!!!). But anyways i guess you can create it into your own day by what you say and how you act.
March 12, 2009 at 11:57 am
Whether you’re 15 or 51, there are certain things imposed on you, by adults or whoever. Still, we all have certain choices too. You certainly can create your own day (even though you’ll alway have limitations) and attitude is a big part of that.
March 11, 2009 at 2:04 pm
I really enjoyed this, makes you think of the day as a blank canvas and it is up to ourselves to paint a pretty picture.
I hope to make this day a good and productive one (I’ve got 3 essays to complete).
March 11, 2009 at 6:36 pm
You also have dinner, have sex and some times you have no option but to accept and embrace what’s coming to your life.
If I say “I’m having a good day” I feel connected, like I’m only a tiny little piece of the universe making my way through it. ‘Having’ a great day without ‘having’ anything to do with it, almost makes me believe in some sort of god or universal source of love who (conscientious or not) wants me to have that great day.
If I say “I’m creating a good day” I feel totally alone, like I’m the only creator, the source of all reality, the beginning and the end of my existence. It reminds me of Zarathustra:
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And so on.
I usually feel like I’m creating my own day…
March 11, 2009 at 6:45 pm
You also have dinner, have sex and some times you have no option but to accept and embrace what’s coming to your life.
If I say “I’m having a good day” I feel connected, like I’m only a tiny little piece of the universe making my way through it. ‘Having’ a great day without ‘having’ anything to do with it, almost makes me believe in some sort of god or universal source of love who (conscientious or not) wants me to have that great day.
If I say “I’m creating a good day” I feel totally alone, like I’m the only creator, the source of all reality, the beginning and the end of my existence. It reminds me of Zarathustra:
«But I live in mine own light, I drink again into myself the flames that break forth from me.»
«Yea, this ego, with its contradiction and perplexity, speaketh most uprightly of its being–this creating, willing, evaluing ego, which is the measure and value of things.»
And so on.
I usually feel like I’m creating my own day…
March 11, 2009 at 7:40 pm
The thought of creating our own day is noble, provided you have these:
- Unrestrained freedoms
- No commitments/responsibilities
- A blown-out ego
- Divine powers to alter events
Whenever you have the following, your chances of “creating” a day greatly increases. It is also true for the opposite; If you do not have any of the following, you just have to accept a day as a day.
Yes, it is true that the only way of “creating” our day is making our own choices or seeing things in a different light. This is not always the case. To self-elude yourself with excessive optimism, which can blind us sometimes, is no better a solution than pessimism itself. The path of happiness is the middle path and having knowledge of both extremes.
I know you are showing us the better reasons for living like loving and being optimistic. But we still must realise that there is a time and place for certain choices. To think we make up 100% of our day may seem a bit too idealistic. Don’t you think?
So the best question to ask is: How was your day?
March 12, 2009 at 12:52 pm
I totally understand your point of view and the pov of the other people posting similar responses. I think what DW is saying is create a good day or a good experience no matter what. Yes, you can have responsibilities and divine powers causing events but only your response or your preparation will affect the outcome of your day. That’s why he mentioned the rain, it’s neither good nor bad without human judgment, you can say “Damn, it’s raining, traffic is going to suck and I’ll probably be late” and all that will happen and you will have created the perfect bad day, but if you say “It’s raining, hopefully my flowers will grow a little more and I’ll bring an extra umbrella in case someone at the office or on the train forgot theirs,” then you have created (or at least laid the foundation) for the good day Davey is talking about.
March 13, 2009 at 1:42 am
To convince yourself that a day is a good day is just an illusion.
You should be unconsciously happy without much thought.
A truly good day doesn’t need much perspective in actuality. You just need to see it as giving you opportunities and life-long lessons.
Sure, rainy days are neither good nor bad. But, you can learn to drive to work earlier to avoid the traffic and share the umbrella with a new acquaintance OR you can just continue living the same routine and complain.
This is the key to happiness: Recognising opportunities and not self-eluding yourself. Seeking neutrality with an understanding of extremes (in this case, optimism and pessimism).
March 12, 2009 at 6:13 am
I totally agree with you about how rain is neither good nor bad without our own judgements.. I personally love the rain and I feel so connected with tht world when I’m in immersed in it. The thought of water cycles and how it is constantly reused and changing makes me feel such a part of the world we live in…
March 12, 2009 at 6:43 am
LUVS IT!
March 12, 2009 at 8:29 am
Great!! I try not to ask people how they are doing or how they are feeling. I make an effort to greet people by saying “It’s great to see you! or “How nice to be able to share part of my day with you.” This creates the energy I want to share with the person instead of opening up the floodgate of complaints. I really try to set the tone of my encounters.
March 12, 2009 at 8:45 am
Similarly, we graduated from a university, college, high school, etc. as opposed to we graduated university, college, high school, etc. A university, college, high school, etc. does not need a graduation.
March 12, 2009 at 8:51 am
One of the phrases that drives me crazy that is used constantly by some people is “You know” and/or “You know what I mean”.
March 12, 2009 at 9:13 am
I like the idea, but how does one break the cycle. How do you get in the mentality that i can create a great day when everything around me is going wrong? If things aren’t working out, maybe in a karmic sense or an out of your hands sense, then you have no control over creating your day. While it is a noble idea and should be tried every day, some times, as my old boss put it, sometimes the deer shoot back. There’s nothing you can do when your day creation is out of your hands and it doesn’t go your way. Just gotta roll with it.
March 12, 2009 at 10:08 am
I don’t ask about people’s day. I just ask them “what’s up?” I think it’s easier that way.
March 12, 2009 at 10:29 am
try creating a better day for someone else and
you will find your day to be much better.
when you find that you feel that you can not
create yourself a better day you are in
depression please seek help!!!!
Great making better
love
March 12, 2009 at 10:39 am
I create my day using chemical pain relievers to control my daily migraine so I can get out of bed and participate in something that resemles life. soon the Drs will put a tube in myleft carotid artery and run it under the skin in my throat to my right carotid artery and connect it so I will have equal amounts of oxygen enriched blood on both sides of my brain. Maybe that will take away my daily migraine pain. I will only have to face the horrers of Hepatitis C and its treatment and Diabetes and Atherschlersis. I will then be able have a good day. Being alive is having a good day for me.
March 12, 2009 at 12:11 pm
yes,i will create a Good Day-check for work @unemployment office,look for possibilities,pay for my trip next weekend to D.C.Obama-here i come.
March 12, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Hi Davey Wavey. I hear this song every day on the radio:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYvg6cTOi9E
Can sometimes lift me up.
Take care
Aaron x
March 12, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Yeah, but sometimes s**t just happens.
March 12, 2009 at 4:35 pm
“Having” and “Creating” a day is as subjective as whether that day will be deemed “good” or “bad”. There are actions and attitudes we can choose to make our day better, then there are those things that are beyond our control. Sometimes, “creating” a “good” day out of really having a bad day is denial or delusion. Every day will be slightly different, and there will be days that are much worse than others just as there are those that are much better. After all, everything is relative, and all anyone can hope for is a day that will be more good than bad.
Perhaps that is really all we can hope for on any regular day, is to have an “Average or “Above Average” day rather than simply “good” or “bad”.
PS. I had a slightly below average day today.
March 13, 2009 at 1:27 am
Totally agree!~
March 12, 2009 at 9:33 pm
I totally agree with that.. Our life is what we make out of it.. It’s up to us whether or not the glass if half full or half empty.. I am having a good day b/c I choose to look at the positive things in my life rather than focus on the negative things that are taking place. I am doing GREAT I have great health.. and I have a job!!
March 13, 2009 at 4:21 am
A Day is neither good nor bad. A Day just is. Good always has to have its opposite (bad) to define it. Either leave the dualistic world behind altogether, or fool yourself into your homemade fantasy.
March 13, 2009 at 7:20 am
Oh jeez. You seem to take everything so literally.
March 13, 2009 at 3:45 pm
This post did cheer me up. Thank you
March 13, 2009 at 9:38 pm
After my post I began to think of the scripture that says…”Today is the day which the Lord has made I WILL rejoice and be glad in it.” You or HAVING a good day because you are CREATING a good day!!! and vice versa!
March 14, 2009 at 7:43 am
Davey, my friends always comment on my message for voicemail… I end by saying “make a great day” I believe im making my day what id like it to be!!!
March 16, 2009 at 6:52 am
Davey, this was an amazing triumphant thought even if simply put out there. My boyfriend and I plan on implementing this thought and its intent into our ‘verbage’ or vocabulary.
Thank you so much for your input on YouTube and participation in sharing your life and thoughts. You have truly helped a soul with your blog.