“Make a good day”.

When we were in Hawaii a few years ago, we stepped into an elevator at our hotel heading out for the day. The elevator was filled and we chatted briefly with a few people, about the weather, beauty of Hawaii etc. – the typical small chat.

We finally came to the floor where we were exiting, and I turned to a man we were small talking with and said, “Have a good day”. I expected him to respond with a smile, or perhaps, “you too”. Instead he responded, “No, make a good day”.

Make a good day. One small change from “Have” to “Make”.

Love it.

“Have” takes ownership away from us and makes us passive bystanders in our life. We can sit back like an audience to our life – waiting and watching each scene unfold. We are at the mercy of whatever the day holds. If we have a good day, it’s due to a fluke, fate, circumstance or plain old luck.

Which, of course, these certainly do play a role.

But, “make” – that is an active word. It implies we have ownership, we have responsibility, we have accountability, we can create our life. We are writers and actors. We are active participants and choose what we want to happen daily – even it’s only choosing our attitude instead of our circumstances.

I have thought of this man many a day since our brief encounter. While I do not go around saying, “Make a good day” to everyone, I certainly think it in my head every time the words “Have a good day” are uttered by me or to me. It reminds me of the power I have to create a great life for myself and my family.

Make a great day everyone!