One of the things I do every morning to try to ensure that I have a good day is to affirm that I am going to have one.
On waking each morning, while I am waiting for the kettle to boil for my coffee, I say aloud ten times: "Something wonderful will happen for me today." Now that doesn't mean that bad things don't happen to me but it does mean that I am approaching each day in the right frame of mind so that I am more likely to attract good luck. Even when things go wrong, I am more able to put a positive spin on the event because I have programmed myself with this expectation.
It also means that I notice more that is already right with my life, things that I might otherwise take for granted. It does make you more likely to count your blessings.
Each evening, I review my day and there is invariably something wonderful to be acknowledged, no matter how "ordinary". Sometimes it is simply the gift of still being alive. Something that can be taken away in an instant. A few years back, a colleague of mine died while working at her PC at home. She was found sitting in her chair, a cup of coffee at her side. Death is not always something you can prepare for.
Perhaps we should all live every day as if it were going to be our last, providing that doesn't lead to our being selfish or inconsiderate.
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4 comments:
We started a family ritual when we all sit down to dinner. Everyone takes it in turn to say at least one positive thing about their day. The kids have really adopted this and sometimes we've all but finished dinner by the time they've completed their list.
This is a wonderful idea. I'm going to suggest to my wife and daughter that we do the same.
Hi Mark
I don't mean any offence but I think it's pretty difficult to live each moment as if it's your last. I have pretty harsh experience of being thrown into not being able to plan ahead.
Human beings are shaped by their experiences and their hopes and dreams for the future. Each moment that we live, we are constantly drawing upon previous experiences and moving forwards through life with hopes for our future destinies and life. For any given moment, we hope and plan for there to be more...
For example: if I were to buy an icecream, I would be likely to choose it depending upon my previous experiences of flavours and texture. In that same way, if I were told that this icecream I would be buying, would be my last - what flavour and texture would I then choose...? I would be constrained by all the wonderful flavours and hopes for the future icecreams I would miss out upon, if I simply chose one.
What I'm saying is... to live only in the moment, seriously limits our freedom to hope and to dream, to stretch ourselves and to reach for our limits. I'm not saying living in the moment isn't pleasurable - in alot of cases it is. But to simply define that moment as an 'experiential momentary thing' is to me, limiting. It's more constructive I think to do as Kim suggests and work our what we appreciate in life.
When I was with my ex-partner, we used to sit at the dinner table and discuss three things about our day.
1. A good, positive thing.
2. A bad, negative thing.
3. Something we would change.
By discussing these things, we learned how to appreciate each day and the positive things... but, we also learned how to appreciate the negative things and what we could learn from them.
I liked your Blog. It made me think... on a day which hasn't been that great for me.
:o)
c a d:
No offence taken whatsoever. I really appreciated your comments and you have given me much to think over. I realise I over stated the case in suggesting living every day as if it were your last. You're absolutely right. We also need to hope that we do have a future too while at the same time trying to appreciate more of what we have in the moment. It's a double perspective. And yes, you're right,we do need to learn and can learn from negative experiences. That's part of the flipside technique: you can say, OK what is the lesson here.
So glad you like the blog. Your comments meant a lot to me.
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