STARTING YOUR DAY RIGHT - PART 2

Article By
KAYSOON KHOO

 

 

Now for that formula, mantra, incantation (think of it anyway you like) that you’ve been asked to recite. “Good morning, John! You are a wonderful person, and a happy and productive day awaits you!”

The very first word “good” has the most positive connotation among all the words in your entire vocabulary. It denotes the quality of every single thing you ask from Life. You treasure your good health, you want to earn a good living, you value the friendship of all your good friends, you try to be a good person – in short, “good” is the predominant colour you want to see on the canvas of your life. We're agreed on that, aren’t we? Good.

“Morning” signifies not only the start of a new day, but the start of another stretch of waking hours in which you can make the right choices. Every single passing moment gives you the opportunity to make a choice. It presents you with an option. An option to do, say, feel or THINK as you please – especially the last. NO ONE can deprive you of the freedom to plant whatever thought you want in your head. The word “morning” indicates the bright start of all these opportunities.

Never mind if you worked the night shift, went to bed at eight in the morning, and got up at three in the afternoon. Wish yourself “good morning” instead of “good afternoon”. The word “afternoon” tells you more than half the day is gone. And the afternoon is hardly the most salubrious part of the day. It simply doesn’t have the bright promise of the beginning of a new day. So stick to “morning” and IMAGINE its invigorating freshness all about you.

The next word you utter is your own name. Instill warmth and affection into your voice when you say your name. It means you love and accept yourself for what you are. So, all right, you may not be the ideal person (how many of us are?) and you may have many shortcomings (how many of us don’t?). That doesn’t mean you cannot be better than what your are right now.

Strive to improve yourself by all means, but UNLESS you can love yourself in spite of all your imperfections, you CANNOT really love anyone else. You cannot give anyone money when you don’t have a single cent to bless yourself with. In other words, if you cannot love yourself, you become a machine, something totally incapable of affection. Scary thought, isn’t it?

That’s why you have to regard yourself the right way when you speak your own name out loud. Have a high regard for that person you see in the mirror. His weal and woe are your sole responsibility. NO ONE can ever uderstand him and know him the way you do. If you don’t LOVE him, how can anyone else do so?

The next thing you tell yourself is that “you a wonderful person”. You don’t have to squirm with embarrassment when you say this, even if modesty is your middle name. You really ARE a wonderful person. For that matter, so is each and every human being who lives and breathes.

WHY are you wonderful? Consider what you are. You belong to the specie at the very top of the food chain. You are a unique creation of Nature with the special gift of intellect. You have the great privilege of choice in thought, which in turn gives you endless options to do what you wish with your life. And no one else is quite like you. There is NO exact duplicate of you in this whole word; no, not even if you have an identical twin. If all that isn’t wonderful, try to figure out what is.

The last part of the message you deliver yourself when you look in the mirror says, “A happy and productive day awaits you.” The two most significant words are, of course, “happy” and “productive”. Let’s examine each of them in turn.

Like every normal person, you want to be happy. When you tell yourself the day holds happiness in store for you, you are promising yourself you’ll generate that happiness within you throughout the day. It MUST come from the inside. Happiness is one article you cannot pick up from the shelf. You have to manufacture that product yourself if you want to enjoy it.

Neither is happiness a windfall. It’s not stepping out of your house and finding a hundred-dollar note someone has accidentally dropped. If you look at it the right way, finding a hundred-dollar note never gives as much joy and satisfaction as earning a hundred bucks through your own efforts or talent. You can pocket that money, but the knowledge that it isn’t really yours won’t go away. There will also come the gnawing thought that the person who dropped the money may not be able to afford its loss. A conscience that bothers you is not quite the ingredient to put into the pot when you want to stir up something with a happy taste.

No, that isn’t the kind of happiness you wish for yourself during the day. You wish for happy circumstance, but you do not want gain at the expense or loss of another. What you really wish for is that bright, optimistic, confident mood that lets you enjoy the challenge of your work, the company of your colleagues and everything you experience throughout the day. THAT is the happiness you ask for yourself at the start of each new day. FEEL that happiness even as you wish it on yourself.

Now, take the other word “productive”. A non-productive day is a useless day, and all the non-productive days strung together constitute a useless life. No right-thinking person wants that for himself.

As your day progresses, you want to fill your time doing things which are of benefit to yourself and others. You do just that if you devote yourself whole-heartedly to your job duties. What you do benefits the company, and what benefits the establishment you work for benefits you too. After all, you’re part and parcel of it. You want to feel that you belong to the crew of that boat in which you’re sailing, not a mere passenger. You want to help row that boat instead of sitting idly and letting others get you to your destination. That’s why you’ll find that the sense of satisfaction you derive from a good day’s work is priceless. You need neither praise nor approbation because you yourself KNOW the volume and quality of your output.

That doesn’t mean you are only productive when you keep your nose to the grindstone and your shoulder to the wheel. You also do that when you help a colleague solve a problem or give an encouraging word to another. You are helping them cope in a situation which presents difficulty for them. You are contributing. There are countless ways in which you can contribute. Just use your eyes and your brain and you’ll see them. Give and grow. Life gives everyone endless options for personal growth.

You are also being productive when you do anything which benefits yourself. Dropping in at a bar and having a beer to unwind after a hard day’s work is productive because you need that break. The same goes for a workout out at the gym. Or taking in a movie. Or making love with your partner. Or even shooting the breeze with a friend and relaxing. Enjoy yourself all the way and you’ll derive the benefit. And benefit is what productivity is all about.

You NEED all those recreational activities because they make you feel good. When you feel good, you can do more for yourself and for others. In short, you become even MORE productive.

You don’t have to be fanatical when it comes to the concept of productivity. Not everyone can feed the millions, or come up with a new invention which proves itself a boon to mankind, or make major decisions which benefit the nation at large. Just do what you have to do to the best of your ability, with the right frame of mind, and you are productive all the way.


( continued in Part 3 )