So I’m finding in my many years of wisdom (ok, so maybe only 1.4 of my years have actually been wise) that in every day we have at least 5 things that really suck and at least 5 things that rock. Oh I’m sure on many days one of those two lists has many more than 5 and at the end of the day what we’re left with is the balance between the two. There are some times when those bad things are just so incredibly bad that they completely eclipse anything good that happened. I mean really, who is going to excited about there being no line at lunch time when you lose a loved one. And other days, little things like stubbing your toe on the way out the door will do nothing against the complete joy of winning a contest.

But there are days that are more subjective and equally matched. Those feel like mini-roller-coasters and I’m sure we’ve all had these days. Boss said something good about my work (yay) then reprimanded me for something completely unrelated (aw). I had a great conversation with friends (yay) until I found out that his mother passed away last week (aw). A brief moment of pure inspiration came my way (yay) and shortly after was followed by the realization that despite my fun brainstorming session I spent the entire afternoon without actually achieving anything (aw). A song came on my iTunes totally had me rocking (yay) and the next had me close to tears (aw). We all know how this continues. It’s never anything large and day shattering or even day making.

Ideally, we would be able to pick out all the good things that happened, forget all the bad and consciously choose that today was a good day. And yes, I think it’s a great thing to do if you’re able. I’m not too talented at that though. So instead I have to trick myself. After work (which I’m leaving now) I’ll go triangle and bass drum my heart out (yes, orchestra practice this evening) return home to a good book, maybe even sweep the house to let myself feel productive and maybe swing by my friends’ house to make brownies for her. You see, I’m selfish in these kind of days when I feel myself on the fence. Was it a good day or a bad day? At some point I need to take control and figure out what I can do to make it a good day. What will make me happy and what works even better is how can I help end someone else’s day on a positive note? I’m not sure what kind of day today was, but will a little bit of effort I know what kind of day it will end as. And sometimes it’s something as simple as remembering the awesome days I’ve already lived.

Costa Rica 2005