Every Day is A Good Day: How a little bit of Zen can help lift our mood

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Every Day is a Good Day

I look deep into the eyes of my son and I see my likeness. It is a moment of joy, of perfection. He is happy here and I am happy to be in his presence. The now tired plastic rocking horse lies cast aside so that he can play his favourite game. It’s all to do with pretending he can fly.

I count down from three, then blast him up in the air and swing him round to his delight. I hope one day he will share a moment like this with his son or daughter and I reflect my own father must have enjoyed my early youth similarly. In this instant I feel connected to the world and I enjoy it all tremendously.

In the shared moment, I see also the bigger picture. Whatever the very long term future holds, our lives will become messages for those who follow. I hope we can both be beacons and our efforts light the way through the unknown. These are abstract thoughts but I entertain them some more.

The Philosophy of the Shared Moment

Each life has a purpose in bringing about meaning for others. Be it creating issues or challenging negativity. My son and I are lucky, we are healthy and live free of poverty. The present moment is dependent on a wide range of factors that have come together to create good fortune. How can it be that with so many peaks and troughs in life, every day is a good day?

I muse that as human beings we are each full of so many things and yet empty of a separate self. We contain countless elements and minerals, water and warmth. We contain space and make up consciousness. We embody the notions of our parents, grandparents and ancestors, our education and our culture. These parts are not us but together they comprise us, removing any of them would fundamentally change what we are.

Playing with my son is so simple and joyful. It takes me away from the pressures and responsibilities of life. I marvel that millions of years has led to this point of being, to this iteration of body and mind, to my son and I. We are separate but part of everything.

Everything that makes up our Being

Countless microscopic life forms are supporting us being alive and together in this moment. Our very functioning is dependent on us hosting non-human cells in our living bodies.

Furthermore, we exist at an intersection of time and space, contingent on a vast chemical and biological history. As is everyone, we are being constantly renewed in each and every passing second. There is a multitude of forces shaping our destinies. At this point in time, together with his mother, I am in charge of guiding and leading this precious little life.

All people’s thoughts, words and actions continue to influence the world further than we know or realise. To the extent that we can shape our thoughts, change in the external world starts within the depths of our minds. Each compassionate thought bears our mental signature. Spending so much time in a nurturing role has convinced me how much love matters.

A little more Zen

To draw on Zen philosophy a little more I think of the transitions in nature. The storm cloud becomes the whipping rain. The sun becomes the soothing rays. So we must be careful what we manifest. Our actions of body, speech and mind produce an energy which we constantly transmit into the wider world.

This radiates out again and again, day after day, for the duration of our lives. It is up to us to take care to be like the soothing light of the sun rather than the stinging lash of the hail.

Observing this is important. Comprehending this is enough to see we should make understanding, love and compassion the focus of our beings. I hope to ensure my son grows to realise a similar truth.

Part of Something Greater

In the expanse of love available through compassion no-one is alone. Our lives are to nature what waves are to the ocean. We form out in the deep. We move like an individual ripple on a vast expanse. Seemingly going the same way as so many others.

Eventually our lives end. We crash and break. Our energy changes into a current which is subsumed back into the greater whole.

And so lives come after countless lives. So much change, so much continuity. We need never fear separation or isolation, for the entire duration of being the wave we are part of the totality. For all our human ideas of individuality and the artificial we never really leave the natural world.

Energy in Abundance

Once we understand that we are a manifestation of a greater energy, and that we exist within nature rather than apart from it, we can be open to many more possibilities. Every day is a good day because we are present, and with our presence we have a great capacity for love and understanding.

Positive thoughts may not come naturally to everyone but compassion is inherent within us all. The seeds of this tenderness will grow and flourish given the right environment and experiences. With conscious direction the tiny beginnings of proper thought can be encouraged to be more than seedlings. They can send down roots to form gripping stalks that strengthen over time.

Gradually, the seed becomes the sprout and then the sapling. Eventually it surges forward to become the tree holding the earth below and bearing fruits above. We may seem to have a more complicated life course than a tree, yet we share this energy for growth in abundance. We all have unlimited potential.

Passing on the Lesson

I hope to one day be able to teach my son about all of this, get his take on it, see what he thinks when he has a mind of his own. I literally can’t wait.

Meanwhile he remains blissfully unaware of the complexity and profundity of being alive. As I draw in breath, I consider everything, and as I breathe out I relax, thinking that every day is a good day.