Treat each day like a holiday

H

appy National [Insert Bizarre Miscellaneous Noun Here] Day!

If you’ve ever read a children’s book, you can recount one mentioning a “snow day.” Snow blankets the world, inspiring children to forgo thoughts of school and instead drink steaming cups of cocoa or lie in the white fluff to create angels.

What about birthdays? Children awake full of glee to spend time with their friends, eat frosted cake and open presents. But, really, it is just another day. One of the 365 in the year.

It’s hard to believe, but there’s only one thing that distinguishes these special days from the other 364 – you know, those days when we awake with a groan, drag our feet to brush our teeth and feel a sense of dread in the pits of our stomachs about our upcoming exams.

What makes a holiday different than any other day? It is your perspective or outlook.

I have a proposal: Let’s awake each morning, looking at each new day as a holiday. With outstretched arms, ready to seize the day’s beauty, we can chant carpe diem rather than curse our alarms.

Call it what you may: wearing rose-colored glasses, looking on the bright side, seeing the glass half full – or just plain balogna.

Think about the amount of time you spend on activities that don’t make you happy. If the percentage is close to 50, know that you have the power to change that.

Ultimately, it’s not really about National Kale Day, College Radio Day, Coffee Day or even birthdays. It’s all about perspective.

Live your life with passion. Be happy. It’s such a simple statement, yet it’s the ongoing quest of every individual.

Something wonderful happens every day – whether it is as small as someone complimenting your shirt or as fulfilling as earning an A on a difficult exam. You may not even know the act’s significance until the day concludes, but I guarantee that being open to the possibilities is a step in the right direction.

 

Alyssa Jacobson is a junior majoring in advertising and political science.