In The Day Ahead

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It is up to us, as individuals, to make the best use of our lives. Whether you realize it or not, you choose your day in advance. You decide how you will be and how you will live the day ahead. You choose your attitude and the path you will take. Yes, you are responsible for how almost every day in your life turns out.

Not convinced? Stick with me as we examine the subject of the control you have over each day that lies ahead. A word of caution – once you read this, you will either agree or disagree, but you will never look at life the same unless you are already there!

How much control do you have?

You start each day by what goes through your head the evening before and that morning. If you go to bed worried about the day ahead, you will likely wake up anxious, and your day may not have a great start. If you go to bed excited for the next day, once you get to sleep, you will likely wake up happy and have a great day ahead of you. While it usually works this way, at times, it will not. Why, you ask? Glad you are curious!

Let’s say you are excited to get to the office because you expect to get some great news today. On the way in, someone lightly rear-ends your brand new car. While minor damage occurred, it is a real pain to deal with it first thing in the day. You get to the office late, and the news you hoped to get will not come until later in the week.

At this point, you have one of two options. You can choose to think like a victim - woe is me; everything is going bad today. Or you can think like a victor and be thankful the accident wasn’t all that bad, and realize the good news is yet to come. In which state would you rather be?

The fact is you can choose to be in control of your circumstances, or you can allow them to control you. Again I ask you, in which state would you rather be? In the state of control, or the state of being out of control?

You do realize what just happened, don’t you? The choice is yours and yours alone. It is up to you. No one else can make it. Only you get to decide how you will be the rest of the day.

It is all in what you choose

Hopefully, you will go to bed and wake up 365 days this year. Each of those evenings and mornings, and throughout the day, you choose how you will be. Yes, you – that person you look at in the mirror each day.

No one else can make a choice for you unless you allow it. You are an adult, after all. Why would you not be responsible for your own choices? An immature child may be that way, but not a mature person who takes personal responsibility for their actions.

One of the best quotes I have ever read on the subject of being in control of our days was written by a famous American author, teacher, and philosopher. Here it is in its entirety:

“No clear-thinking or clear-seeing man or woman can be an apostle of despair. He alone fails who gives up and lies down. To get up each morning with the resolve to be happy; to take anew this attitude of mind whenever the dark and doleful thought presents itself, or whenever the bogeyman stalks into our room or across our path, is to set our own conditions to the events each day. To do this is to condition circumstances instead of being conditioned by them.” Ralph Waldo Trine (1868-1958)

Let’s break it down in modern vernacular and simplify it as much as possible.

• No person who thinks clearly will allow themselves to fall into despair.
• The only way to fail is to lie down and give up.
• When you make up your mind each morning to be happy and enjoy the day, you can overcome whatever comes your way with a good attitude toward it.
• You are in charge of your day, and you get to set the terms and conditions as to how you will face it.
• You can control your circumstances instead of letting them control you.

There you have it. You are the one in control of your days if you want to be. I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject!

Final thoughts

Each of us gets to decide how we will be each day. For the larger part of our life, the next day is not thrust upon us uncontrollably. It is our choice and our choosing that will make the day whatever it will be to us.

As free people, no one commands us to do or be a certain way. Hopefully, no one ever literally forces us to have a bad day. Too many people live far below their potential because they hand their days to others or outside forces. They are subject to their circumstances because they do not take control of them. It makes sense to act as the responsible, mature adult that you are.

I leave you with the words of a former law professor and attorney who founded the Josephson Institute of Ethics:

“The choices you make in your life will make your life. Choose wisely.” Michael Josephson (1942-present)

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