Everyone knows that some days are better than others. When we have a good day, we’re grateful or sometimes don’t acknowledge it at all. When we have a bad day, we can dread the coming hours — hoping that what transpired to cause the day to go left won’t spill over from one day into the next. I was a person who considered myself to have great days, good days, ok days, bad days, meh days and horrible days. These were usually the responses I gave if asked about my overall day. My “meh” days didn’t have any significant reason. The day was neither good or bad, but for some reason, I just wasn’t in the groove of dealing with it. When I was going through a lot of internal turmoil, I had a lot of meh days. I would try to remind myself that the day could be worse. Highlight any tasks that I felt I was productive in, but still, I couldn’t quite get past the feeling of “meh.” Great days usually entailed some exciting, unexpected news or gift. Good days meant that the day was not bad, and my routine ran smoothly. Ok days meant it could have been better, but I’ll take what I can get, and bad days meant something went wrong that day. Horrible days meant something detrimental happened and I wish I could do it over. I weighed my days like this for years.

Overall, I felt that most of my days were good and told myself it could always be worse. “It could be worse” is a phrase that most people use to help make ourselves and others feel better. I wish I would have gotten that raise Hey, it could be worse at least I have a job. I should have spoken to that cute guy, but I didn’t. Hey, it could be worse I could have been rejected. My car has a flat tire, and it is pouring down rain. Hey, it could be worse I could be stranded on a desolate road with no signal to call for roadside assistance. We use this “hey it could be worse” so that we can weigh the gravity of situations in our lives. We then at times take how we weigh things in our lives and use them to help others cope. I appreciate when a friend offers me sound advice or lets me vent. However, telling me, “it could be worse” doesn’t help. The simple fact is my worse may not be your worse, and therefore we shouldn’t compare how we feel about our situations to others.

Once while out of date (because Atlanta, GA is one of the best places to date people) I was speaking to my him about my life. We were going through different events and getting each other up to speed about the type of people we were. He began to tell me about how he never has bad days. I thought that was odd. Everyone has bad days; I mean everyone. He said he didn’t. He either had great days or good days but not bad days. He then told me a story about his mother and two sisters. They were all killed in a fire. He said it was the worse day of his life. I was blown away. I couldn’t imagine losing my siblings and my mother all in one day. Here he was moving on with life seeing the silver lining of each passing day. It made me think about how I viewed my days. I mean I had too many descriptions already but to narrow them down to two or three? Over the next few years I just did just that. I began to look at my days differently.

I began to consider how blessed I am. Not because I have a roof over my head or money in the bank but because I am still being granted air to breathe, a mind that freely thinks, hugs and words of encouragement from people who love me. God has given me what money, fame or the world, in general, cannot give. The world cannot give me a good or bad day. Only I can determine that. As I dedicate every day of my life to my Lord and Savior, He makes every day not only bearable but enjoyable. I’ve learned that I cannot take the weight of my day and compare it another. In #DyingDaily I realize that we shouldn’t discount what others feel based on what we can or cannot handle. As the scripture says, we are to rejoice always (1 Thessalonians 5:16). Looking at the silver lining of life because it’s too short not too.