‘Even though believing in these things doesn’t come easily to me, there is one thing I really like about this exercise — the fact that you’re deciding to have a good day, in advance.
To understand why this is important, think about the opposite — how easy it is for us to decide to have a bad day, in advance’
My yoga teacher is one of the finest proponents of the craft that I have seen and I look forward to my classes with him.
At the same time, every once in a while, he gives advice that borders on the esoteric.
For someone like me, who is a bit of a skeptic, this sometimes makes me a little uncomfortable. I am someone who believes that crap like the law of attraction is absolute nonsense and has done more harm than good.
So here was his esoteric piece of advice on how to fulfill all of your desires:
When you wake up in the morning, before you actually get up, stay on the bed a little longer. Observe carefully which nostril you’re breathing from. Invariably and without your knowledge, you will be breathing more from one nostril than the other. If you are breathing more from your left nostril, put that leg down first and say to yourself that you will have a great day.
You are supposed to do this with absolute faith for it to work.
Esoteric enough?
Whether it works or not is up for debate.
Even though believing in these things doesn’t come easily to me, there is one thing I really like about this exercise — the fact that you’re deciding to have a good day, in advance.
To understand why this is important, think about the opposite — how easy it is for us to decide to have a bad day, in advance.
It’s Monday.
It’s appraisal time.
I have to work with that wretched boss.
I don’t like my job and the people I work with.
I’ m late.
The traffic is horrible.
I had a fight with my significant other.
Each of these is an excuse to decide to have a bad day.
Once you have decided to have a bad day, everything and everyone will seemingly be against you. Not that bad days don’t occur. We get blindsided, have to deal with petty and immature people and tolerate unreasonable and unjust behaviour.
But if you have already decided to have a bad day, you have already decided that everything is going to hell anyway.
What makes you say you had a good day? Or what has to happen for you to say that today is going to be a great day?
A surprise holiday?
A message from an old friend?
A compliment?
Waking up early and exercising/journaling?
Having a thoughtful conversation with your significant other?
Praying?
Waking up and making a big decision that you have been putting off?
A good cup of coffee?
Encountering less traffic on the way to work?
If you look back at a good day, it isn’t as if every second was out of this world. A few things went right that increased the serotonin in your head and that happy feeling stayed. Same applies for a bad day. One thing went wrong and you carried that around with you the entire day.
Back in college, I had a white shirt that I was really fond of. I used to reserve it to wear on Fridays. When I wore that shirt, good things seemingly happened to me. My article got published in the paper. I got my bus on time. A teacher was absent.
I also had a black shirt and when I wore that on Fridays, everything went bad. I missed my bus. Got into a fight with someone.
After this happened a couple of times, I stopped wearing that black shirt on Fridays. Stupid, but true.
In effect, what I was doing was this — when I wore the white shirt, I decided it was going to be god day in advance. Whether it transpired or not every single time is questionable.
But I have realised one thing — when I decide in advance to have a good day, I feel lighter on my feet. Ideas come to me easier. I look for opportunities instead of shutting myself off. None of this means I will have a day so memorable that I will keep recounting it.
But it sure as hell beats deciding to have a bad day.
What is your definition of a great day? Is there a way to create systems where we have more good days than not so good ones? Is it possible to have a great day in advance?
Have a great day deciding in advance to have a great day.
