What makes a day good?

Have you ever stopped to wonder what people mean when they say, “Have a good day?”

Does the kid bagging your groceries really care? What about the customer service rep on the other end of the line? Or the UPS guy? If he had a dollar for every time he’s said it, he’d have enough in the bank to hang up his awkward brown shorts.

Why do they say it? What’s in it for them? By saying it to you, do they think they’ll get a good day in return? Do they even know what a good day looks like to you? 

Do you even know what a good day looks like to you?

I thought this was a good question to ponder. So, like many other times of late when searching for enlightenment, I asked ChatGPT to define a good day. “As an AI language model,” it immediately began typing with the confidence I wish I had when pondering life’s big questions, “I don't have personal preferences or emotions like humans, so I cannot have my own good or bad days.” 

Honest? Yes.

But helpful? Not so much. 

It turns out that what it means to be human is up to us humans. 

Is a good day when you silence your alarm, curl back under your covers, and enjoy the stillness of the morning? Or is it when you burst out of bed eager to take on the challenges the world is bound to throw your way? Or maybe, it’s when after brewing a cup of coffee, you knock out Saturday's crossword (that is the hardest one all week) without once having to reach for your eraser. 

Did you spend your good day with your family, or maybe your best friends, or perhaps, with no one at all? Did you get lost in a book? In conversation? In your thoughts? Or maybe your good day was found in a surprise phone call from one of your kids who called for no reason at all but just to hear your voice and talk. Or maybe it was lacing up your Nikes and finding the perfect stick to accompany you on a long, aimless walk. 

Or perhaps, sometimes your good day is defined by crushing your to-do list. Your meetings are all a wrap. You did the impossible and landed your inbox at zero. Carl from Accounts Payable is officially off your back. 

A work promotion of a friend? 

Sitting down at your desk and letting the words flow through your fingertips?

A Zoom call with your college clan that made you laugh so hard that it made them laugh even harder.

A perfect parking space that avoided any parallel parking anxiety.

Weeding in the garden while listening to your favorite song? 

The joy of a double-fudge ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles after miles of bike riding?

A refreshing iced tea? 

A nice cold stout?

Messy hair?

Seeing a little kid tell his mom he loved her as he reaches for her hand?

For me, I think a good day is one where you are present; one in which no matter the circumstances, you can just be. 

You feel the sun on your face. 

You see leaves dancing in the wind. 

You’re aware of the world.

You’re in the world. 

You recognize you are very much a part of the world.

And knowing that while the world may be big, confusing, loud, and at times, scary and dark - it’s also a place of wonder. 

Of immense beauty. 

Of awe. 

Be careful you don’t miss it. 

Have a good day. 

You’re alive.