Maybe it’s me.  Perhaps I send out some sort of signal, some sort of message to those I come in contact with that lets them know that I settle for mediocrity and have low expectations.  Maybe people just don’t think I’m capable of having a great day.  Because they always only tell me to have a good day.

These people who talk to me each day are talking to you, too.  You see them at the drive-thru when you get your morning coffee.  Or when you pick up your dry cleaning.  The waiter at lunch.  Even when you’re buying new shoes.

“Have a good day.”

Why not a “great day” instead?  Good, to me, is the same as adequate. Nothing to get too excited about.  If the pizza you had for lunch was “good”, it was really “adequate” and really nothing special.  Seven “good” days equals a “good” week, which turns into a “good” month, then a “good” year and when you die you’ll have had a “good” life.  I would hope that my eulogy would not include phrases such as “he was an adequate father, an adequate husband, who lived an adequate life.” With good synonymous with adequate, why would we settle for an adequate life?  As a parent, do I really want my kids to have a good (adequate) day at school?  Do I want to enjoy 50 adequate years of marriage with my wife?

Living Half Full means not accepting the invitations of others to have a good (adequate) day.  Their intentions may be pure.  But the gift known as today is too precious to be lived adequately.  Expect more from yourself today, and challenge those who would settle for the good day.  Challenge your kids, your spouse, your co-workers and all those you come in contact with each day to raise their expectations of what is possible for them today!  Remind yourself and others of our innate capacity for greatness.  Raising the energy in those around you will have a profoundly positive impact on all their lives.  Including yours.

It’s a great day to be you!