Don’t you wish you could have a good day everyday? If every day you could pop out of bed singing joyfully, going about your day with a smile and smooth sailing all the way. You’d accomplish all your goals, be the best mom on the planet, succeed at all your projects at work, get in a killer workout, eat all the healthiest of meals, and have a wonderful peaceful night with your husband and children when it was all over. Oh, such bliss.
We all know that good days don’t happen every day. And it’s probably good that they don’t. Without bad days, we’d get bored with the good and take for granted the blessings we have. It is good to have a balance of good and bad. But that doesn’t mean we can’t set ourselves up to have more good days than bad. I think sometimes we unintentionally sabotage ourselves into a bad day before we even get started. We kick off the day in the hole, we hold on to negative attitudes, and we fill ourselves up with all sorts of junk that leaves us annoyed, frustrated, and angry.
Some days will be bad on their own. Life will fall apart, tragedy will strike, sickness will come, kids will act up, and goals will be missed. But on the regular days, I think there are things we can do to set ourselves up for a good day. I think there are ways we can intentionally live our lives that will lead us into more beauty in our ordinary, more peace in our busy, and more joy in our everyday challenges. Here are some tips for howto set yourself up to have a good day more often.
1. Wake up early.
Give yourself at least a few minutes of calm and quiet before your kids wake up. This will vary for each person and in each season of life. I’ve finally reached the stage where both my kids sleep through the night most nights, so I am getting the rest I need to wake up early. I also really love early mornings and the energy and productivity I can find in a quiet early morning. This means I wake up at 5am most days. But it wasn’t always this way, when my kids were younger and didn’t sleep as smoothly I often only had 15 minutes of quiet before they woke up. Those 15 minutes were still really important.
Find a time that works for you, get to bed a little earlier the night before, and enjoy a few moments of quiet calm each morning to start your day on the right track.
2. Start your day with gratitude.
Keeping a gratitude journal these past few months has been one of my favorite ways to start my day. It allows me to think about the previous day and focus on all of the good things that happened. Some days it is a struggle to find 3-5 things to be grateful for, while other days I could fill a whole page. The important part is teaching our minds to focus on the good and the blessings in our lives.
“Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and praise worthy.” (Philippians 4:8)
3. Read scripture.
Whether you have just a few minutes before the busyness of your day begins or you have a whole hour, spend some time reading your Bible. Do this as early as you can to help set the tone for your day. Try to find a verse or a concept in your reading and studying to meditate on and think about throughout your day.
4. Pray early and often.
Life is about our relationship with God. In order to have a relationship with someone you have to spend time with them. Talk to them. Get to know them. Listen to them. This is prayer. And it shouldn’t be a once a week thing, or even a once a day thing.
Pray continually (I Thessalonians 5:17), means to always be in communication with God. Keep a running dialogue with Him throughout your day. Invite Him in to each part of your day, talk with Him about your struggles and joys, ask Him for guidance and help, and listen for His voice to lead you.
5. Make someone else smile.
Do something kind and good for someone. Leave a love note in your child’s lunch, send a flirty text to your husband, buy your coworker a coffee, post an inspirational quote on social media, compliment the cashier at the grocery store, pray with a friend who is struggling. Find a way in each day to make a small difference to someone. Make the world a better place through small gestures every day.
6. Sweat daily.
Make it a daily habit to get your heart rate up and turn up your body heat through some sort of exercise every single day. I’m not talking about an hour long gym session. I’m talking about 5-10 minutes of active movement, a brisk walk, a quick jog around the block, a game of tag in the yard with the kids, a few quick trips up and down your stairs, or a quick series of cardio exercises (think jumping jacks) before your shower.
Exercise like this will help lift your mood, increase your energy, up your confidence, and calm your anxiety. If you do it every single day, you hugely increase your chances of having a good day.
There are many things you can do to improve your day. Whether you are in the middle of a bad day or just starting your day, take some time to refocus yourself and boost your chances of having a good day. Some days will be harder than others, but making these six things a priority each day will help you have a good day more often.
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