“Today is a good day to have a good day.”
Store Sign

“Act differently than you feel.”
Ed Agresta

A story: Where I live, yesterday might not have qualified as a “good day” for a lot of people. It was gray. It was rainy. It was on the cold side. It was a Tuesday, which is my day for a jog according to a little weekly schedule I’ve set up. Jogging helps boost my energy, which helps my writing. I opened the door and looked outside. My feet said “yes,” but my head said “no.” I checked my iPhone weather app and Wednesday looked more promising. “I’ll run Wednesday,” I said to myself.

Inertia kicked in. I sat down with a cup of coffee and an inspirational book I read every morning. I was warm and cozy. Then I pulled out my iPhone again and checked the temperature: 45 degrees. Great for running. “Today’s Tuesday — I’m going,” I said  to myself. Before I could change my mind, I put on my running gear, poured my coffee into a to-go cup, and headed out. That’s when the excitement began! Here’s what happened because I acted differently than I felt and chose to make a rainy day a good day:

1.  I saw a sandwich board with the inspiring quote which inspired this post: “Today is a good day to have a good day” — yes, indeedy, I thought to myself!
2. I stuck to my jogging plan, which made me feel good about my weekly strategy.
3. I strengthened my commitment muscle by overcoming my feeling of inertia.
4. I found a  cute little Lego girl abandoned on the grass — it’s now on my desk holding up
a Fortune Cookie fortune: “You must be willing to act today in order to succeed.”
5. I felt super lucky, because the bathroom in the park was open — no portajohnning!
6. The rain caressed  my face as I rain — kisses from heaven, which made me feel alive and happy.
7. I did my 6 laps around the track — which gave me an early dose of endorphins.
8. I kicked my jog up a notch and felt the burn in my bum, which was energizing.
9. As I was jogging, I got an idea for my novel, which I noodled around on the way home.
10. I saw my “writing angels” — two rusty, but trusty gals on a lawn near my house.
11. On the way back, I found a pen that writes and used it to jot down these notes.
12. When I got home, I felt peppier and really enjoyed a second cup of Irish Cream coffee.

I’ve shared all this here for two reasons: First, to remind myself that good, exciting, energizing things  happen when I overcome the inertia that wants to holds me back and makes me feel like I can’t do something. And second, to remind all my KWD readers that this is also true for you: Sometimes, we need to act differently than we feel. A feeling isn’t a fact — it’s like a cloud passing by. If we take action, we can push past feelings of resistance in our life and our work.

Yes, “today’s a good day to have a good day.” Write on!