Think about the worst day of your life.

Not a really bad day.

Not a very sad day.

Not a challenging day that was difficult to get through.

The absolute worst day by far that you have ever lived.

Take it a step further. Close your eyes. Imagine in real detail how you felt on the worst day.

See what you looked like. Remember the pain. How did you stand, walk, talk, sit?

What did your body feel like? Did you ache? Did you cry?

Describe the very moment when you hit bottom.

Now, remember the very happiest moment of your life. What one single moment, hour, day did you feel so extremely happy and satisfied with your life?

Close your eyes and sit the way you sat when you were that happy. Stand, walk, talk the way you did when you were living the happiest day of your life.

Imagine what you looked like. Did you laugh? Did you walk faster, stand taller, run, jump for joy?

Do it now. Re-enact to the littlest detail how you felt on that very happy day.

Compare it to right now. Compare that day to this very moment in your life.

With 1 being the worst day and 10 being the very best, where is this day on that scale?

At the end of our conversation, I said to my daughter-in-law, Sarah, “I hope you have a good week.”

Without hesitation she replied, “That all depends on my attitude.”

She was absolutely right. In my public speaking I always taught that “It’s not what happens to you, but how you choose to react to it.”

Last night after speaking with Sarah I began to think about it.

We always magnify what we choose to see in a situation. As simple as it is, I suddenly realized that if I remembered the worst day of my life and compared it to the challenge at hand, it would always make it appear smaller. I could not make something seem worse than my very worst day ever. By doing this I could put it in perspective and not permit it to overwhelm me.

On the other hand by remembering the very best day, I could easily and instantly recall the great feeling of being that happy. I could choose to feel, stand, walk, smile, laugh, and recreate the best of my life.

It is said that, “Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.”

So the next time you feel that it is the worst day of your life, take a moment to shine a little light in the right direction and step out of the shadow.

Bob Perks bobperks@mindspring.com