Bringing the Great Day Attitude into Your Winter

Every morning at camp, we wake up, clap our hands, and say “It’s Gonna’ to be a Great Day and I Feel Terrific!” This Great Day attitude stems from our daily talks at Breakfast Club, in which Jimboy encourages our camp community to challenge themselves to grow in ways that Jesus grew when he was on earth.

That Breakfast Club attitude of claiming the day is easy at camp (well, most of the time!) when everyone around you is also sitting up in their beds and proclaiming that it will be a “Great Day!” But, how do you take that home with you?

February always feels like the longest month to me – the holidays are long over, it’s cold, and we’re still too many months away from camp. If there is any month that I could use a Great Day attitude refresh, it’s this one! Let’s jump in with some practical ways to live out the Breakfast Club motto during the year:

1. Set up some accountability: You clapped your hands and claimed the day at camp when all of your friends were doing it with you. Why not set up some friends to “claim the day” with you at home? You could start a group chat with your camp or school friends, where everyone is assigned a day to send out an encouraging text to start that specific day. You can get together a group of friends at school to join you, saying “It’s Gonna’ be a Great Day!” when you see each other first thing. Or, think about getting your family in on the fun.

2. Reframe your day with a blessing mindset: There are so many people who are dealing or struggling with some hard things (one of them may even be you). However, when I have something go wrong in my day, I try to always take a deep breath and reframe my mind a little bit. Whatever happened could be bad, annoying, frustrating, or difficult, but I am also very blessed with so many things (health, warmth, friends, food, etc.). When I think about my blessings, I can usually let the bad staff roll off my back a little easier.

3. Write it on your hand: I don’t write things on my hands very often, so when I see something there, it stands out! The other day, I wrote the word “Lucky!” on my hand to remind myself that despite how crazy things were that day, I was so lucky to be able to do all of those things. Every time I saw the word “Lucky” on my hand, it reminded me to reclaim that Breakfast Club perspective. What word could you write on your hand? Why not try: Great Day, Loved, Abundant, or Worthy.

4. Name the good: We’ve mentioned this before on the blog, but naming the good can make a big difference. Ann Voskamp does a wonderful job talking about this in her book One Thousand Gifts (which is geared more towards older teens and adults); she encourages you to write down the abundant blessings you see in your life at some point each day. Grab a journal or a notecard, and write down three things that you are thankful for during that particular day. Some days it can be hard to find things, but over time, your mindset will change as you’re expecting to find good.

5. If you think you can, you can: I remember when JimDaddy would stand up at Breakfast Club and recite from memory this If You Think You Can, You Can poem by Denis Waitley. His purpose in quoting this was to remind us all that our attitude matters – and we get to control that! If you’re looking to claim that Great Day attitude at home, why not print out this poem and read it before you start your day? While this doesn’t always mean you’re going to win or get everything right, it means that you can embrace a mindset of “yes!” about the day. Before you know, your days can be great days!

What other ideas do you have to help claim the Great Day attitude? Let us know below!