Thursday, December 17, 2015

No More Bad Days

As I write this it's late on the night before the birthday that will see me entering my 61st year on this planet. No small feat, considering some of the things I've done, places I've been and predicaments I've gotten myself in to. Not to mention some dangerously crazy, wild, far out characters I've run with. Magnificent bastards every one of them. Not necessarily these guys...but the time is about right so maybe these guys -


But through it all...the teenage break-ups, car wrecks, sad days (even despair a time or two), some hard days and long nights, several broken bones and one heart attack...I'm still here. That makes me one lucky guy. And one very grateful guy. So I've made a decision to not have any more bad days. Now you may ask, "How's he gonna' do that? Everybody has a bad day now and then."  But I've realized it must surely be possible to find some good even in what might be considered a bad day. The day my heart attacked me was not a good day, but it caused me to give up some bad habits, appreciate life more and become much more active. The truth is I had become sort of lazy prior to that event. Not lazy about work. Just kind of lazy about life. Then there was the day my dad died. Certainly not a good day. But it was a good thing that his suffering was over and he could truly now rest in peace. Those are extreme examples to be sure. A bad day can simply mean you lost your keys, or your boss yelled at you at work, or your kids did something dumb. Or you did something dumb. Those are days when you can easily redirect your energy to make it a good day. You have spare keys or can have new ones made, you have a job, your kids are normal, and you have learned a lesson. See? It's not that hard. It's really just about being positive and gathering up good energy. I've been doing that for some time already. Turning 61 isn't going to make me stop. And I promise you will never hear me complain about having a bad day. I'm sure there will be days that aren't much fun, or that will test my resolve. But I believe we have the responsibility for making our own days. There should be no reason we can't make each one good in some way. I'm going to do it. Care to join me?



Roger O'Dea     12/17/2015