What actually makes a good day a "good" day?
This morning I woke up feeling better than I have in a long time and stood in the kitchen with my morning coffee, wondering why that was and why I was even thinking about this.
Of course part of it is simply the process of getting older. Much as I'm loath to admit it, it seems like there's always a muscle twinging here or a bone that's cracking there or my head doesn't feel entirely clear first thing or I have some random sharp pain in some random part of my body that I can't quite explain but doesn't really have a deeper medical reason other than simply aging.
I've often thought that good days result from waking up in the morning and I'm starting in a positive mood. And the positive mood is a the result of a number of different factors not necessarily limited to the fact that I slept well, but might also include the fact that the sun is shining and it's neither too hot or too cold outside.
Admittedly, how I feel about today - starting in the morning - is often tied to what the outcome of the previous day was like. I've noticed about myself that if I had a crappy day the day before, it is a good bit harder for me to wake up with a positive attitude. Instead I find myself sitting on the bed first thing, with background thoughts of wondering about which figurative 10,000lb ACME safe is going to drop out of the sky and hit me in the head today!
Of course then there are also our expectations.
Just how well do we think we're getting to feel every day? Are those expectations realistic?
Back when my doctor was first starting to treat me for hypertension, she suggested that I kept at least a very brief medical journal recording how I felt, day by day. I did not only do that, but I also gave myself a ranking - so to speak - out of 10 at the end of every day. How did I feel physically, how did I feel mentally, how did I feel overall.
Doctor B was more or less horrified and alarmed by the fact that I scored myself most days at a 7 out of 10 or maybe even a 6 out of 10, thinking that that amounted to "fair to pretty good." 9s and 10s were reserved for the few days when I felt absolutely brilliant.
We had an interesting discussion about that, mostly surrounding the idea that she and I were experiencing a mismatch over how well we had expectations of feeling every day. I felt that "pretty good" was about all you could expect and anything above pretty good was a bonus. It was an interesting illustration of how we live in a society that often either feels entitled to more than what is realistic, or spends a lot of time on overreaching.
Today was about an 8 out of 10 day. I actually got a fair amount of work done, I felt physically better than average, and I didn't suffer from the pervasive brain fog that often sets in in mid-afternoon. Unlike many days, I didn't feel totally overwhelmed by the world.
What's interesting about that is that many doctors, and perhaps many people, would be troubled by the fact that their day was "only" an 8 out of 10. They might even be seeking help to somehow improve the fact that it was only an 8. I was happy with the 8!
Funny how expectations are often what get us in trouble! Meanwhile, I hope tomorrow is another good day!
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your week!
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Created at 2024-09-19 00:32 PST
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