Is This a Bad Day or a Good Day?

I used to be able to get my body to do what I want.  All the basic functionality you expect with the equipment you're issued at birth plus a slow marathon or triathlon every so often.

Now that my body is failing me and a walk up the stairs can leave me breathless, it's frustrating.   Kind of like this lifetime deal I've had with my body is being broken.  Or, more accurately, it's being broken earlier than I expected it would.

When I compare how I feel some days to how I expected to feel at this age, it can seem like a bad day.

But then I wondered: What if I were a paraplegic?  Wouldn't simply being able to stand-up in the morning make it a great day?  

And that got me thinking about Steve Gleason the Saints player who has ALS aka Lou Gehrig’s disease and is now completely paralyzed.  Wouldn't something that I take for granted -  just being able to speak directly to my family - be his greatest day in years?

It may be obvious and I'm just catching up, but it hit me that my bad days are not definitively bad...they're just not as good as I expected they'd be at this age. 

No one wants to set their sights low but I'm learning that there is value in letting go of old expectations and instead being grateful for the things that you still can do.

That helps turn bad days into good days.