Did You Have A Good Day, Even If There Were Some Imperfections Elita Sohmer Clayman

It is said you should practice what you preach. Sometimes, it is hard to do. Other times it is easy to do.

When it is easy, it means in my opinion, you are feeling great, so you want the whole community to also feel great. When you are not feeling so wonderful, it is hard to relate to the slogan of be happy, be content, be satisfied etc.

A reader of mine in Delaware sent me a note on the above. She said she tries to relate to my upbeat articles on trying to do new things, trying to always be thankful for what you have and most of all to have a great zest for life as it is now. When she is physically aching from Arthritis or other things and she knows it will pass or get better, she still is wary and worried, because it is her nature to be a worrisome person.

I know how she feels and can relate to that. My dad always use to say “today is good, tomorrow will be better and the next day will be fine.” That was his motto and I think he truly thought it so.

A friend of mine, quite young, around fifty-one years old who has Cancer and is in remission quotes this “Being happy doesn’t mean everything is perfect. It means you’ve decided to see beyond the imperfections.” We can learn from that quote a lot. To me it means that maybe today is not so great, but there are many wonderful things out there, even if right now, there may be some imperfections.

My little almost seven year old grandson says to me on the phone “Grammie, did you have a good day?” Even at his young age, he knows that there are some good days and some not so great ones. That is very introspective of a young child and shows he is a great thinker, already at this young age.

When I was young and around twelve or thirteen, we did not have many material things other than the necessary needs. I loved going to the library where I could take out books about faraway places because I dreamed about traveling and seeing much of the country and world. We had a step-aunt who had been to Europe many times and we thought she must have been a millionaire, before she married my uncle. I would yearn for lovely clothes and I had nice clothes, but I would buy the teen magazines and see the models in designer clothing; and think how nice to own one of those dresses. We did not wear slacks or jeans in those days. It had not happened yet in our world. Men wore pants; even nurses wore dresses in white or skirts and blouses in white. During the Second World War, women who worked in factories wore slacks or trousers as they were called then.

I think sometimes that the anticipation of an event or happening is almost as wonderful as when it happens.

When I was fourteen, I took my first train ride which took twenty-four hours one way all the way from Baltimore to Miami Beach, Florida. I went by myself (how brave a fourteen year old I was in those innocent times of a teen then) and I went to spend a month in Florida with the above mentioned step-aunt and her husband, my uncle who had been married first to mom’s older sister. She passed away from a cancer blood disease they called Leukemia which was just happening. He remarried this very nice lady and she invited me to spend a month there in the sunshine. It cost sixty dollars one way to travel on the train and it was quite a wonderful thing for a kid my age. I had fun and it was a great experience and I never stopped caring for Aunt Eve for having me. When I married, I had her over her for dinner whenever she was in town to see her step children. She left a lasting impression on me and my teen life because she gave a young kid a nice month of happiness.

Sometimes, a simple gesture becomes a gesture of grandeur and influences our life in unknown ways at that time. The Trip as it was called was anticipated for months and there were many shopping trips for summer shorts and summer blouses and great thoughts of extreme pleasure.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote “let me count the ways I love thee.” We can use that to apply to our lives of letting us do some mathematics on our life. When we are sitting at home or even work and thinking how bored we might be just then; we should take our mind to add up what we already have now.

The thoughts mentioned above said that being happy does not mean that everything is perfect. We should all try to see beyond any imperfections or deficiency in our now moments and try to correct them any way we can; this will help us feel happier more times than not.

In my favorite movie of the 1960’s, the fellow played by William Holden says to his love played by Jennifer Jones, as he is going off to be a journalist in the front of the war “if I do not return, we still would have had the many splendored thing, you and I.” He meant their love and the days of their love might be over if he does not return; but they will have already had the splendored thing called love and she should not be sad, if he does not return. They are tear jerker words and of course, he does not come back, he is killed in the war being a journalist.

That is a sad way to sum up a life or lives, but in a way, it is somewhat true. If we have been lucky enough in our life having a love, having children, having good parents and dear friends, then perhaps we have had the many splendored thing and we should be happy and content over that.

Take it for what you think it means and do as I try (not always successful), count the good moments, relive the happy moments and try to be satisfied that you are indeed content.

As my little almost seven year old grandson says “did you have a good day?” Let us all try to have a good day; just about every day there is for us.