Have a good day!

A typical closing to an email or phone call. And a decent one—friendly, positive, and encouraging. Except, that on some days, it takes enormous amounts of energy to actually have a good day. Some days just aren’t so good.

A rough day can be anything in the range of “I am bored out of my mind” to a crises or tragedy that is all consuming.

So I started saying Make it a good day! At first, I felt as if I were giving a mandate rather than a friendly or encouraging closing to an email or phone conversation.

And that made me think about it. I sure don’t want to convey a mandate to a person already carrying life’s heavy burdens. How can Make it a good day! be a word of encouragement, I wondered.

I think it depends on perspective.

I’ve had my share of awful days and have a great deal of empathy for the person who shows up for work everyday while his personal life feels like pure awfulness. Every human being will experience pure awfulness somewhere along the journey of life.

On some not so-good-days, I’ve found ways to make it a good day, or at least a good enough day. For I realize it is completely up to me to make it a good day, especially on the ones where nothing particularly good is going on.

So on those days I started with making an intention to connect with someone: a neighbor, a co-worker, a friend, a student or a professor, a family member. Even making a Facebook connection helped on those days. A simple connection was all I needed to keep my head above water. An in-depth  connection wasn’t always required.

And then I didn’t feel alone, yet a bit energized for the day and able to stay productive and even a little creative with my work. I felt heard and recognized. Sharing laughter, feelings, new ideas, or humorous stories actually has a physiological impact on us—on our brain and our body.

Psychologists suggest that having meaningful connections with people can be an antidote for addiction, violence, depression, or loneliness—and possibly, an antidote for feeling terribly disconnected with ourselves, and with life.

Tragedy and trauma messes with the brain and our identity. Work is painful when our brain is in a fog. Connecting with others can help clear the fog and put us in a positive state of mind, for the brain cannot function simultaneously in negativity and in positivity. This is why it is so important to make it a good day. Or at least a good enough day.

If you are experiencing pure awfulness, initiate a connection with someone. It just might give you the energy needed to make more connections.

If your co-worker is experiencing pure awfulness, reach out and connect. You just might make a really big difference. After all, isn’t that what makes for a good day at work?