[jhancock]

Many years ago someone gave me a self help tape..yeah a cassette ;). The only thing I recall is the speaker telling a story about him being woken up early in the morning by his father to go work on the family farm. As a boy, he would sometimes wake up groggy and grumpy, unhappy about milking the cows pre-dawn. His father would say to him "Do you want to have a good day, or a bad day?"

Now, I'm a father. My son has an easy life. No real responsibilities. But he has his moments of wanting to express his profound unhappiness with what the day holds for him. So I ask him "Do you want to have a good day, or a bad day?" He tells me he wants to have a good day. I tell him that we have things to do and it may not be what he thinks he wants, but he can choose if he wants to be happy. This works surprising well on a four year old. He is almost seven now and I rarely have to remind him of this choice anymore.