Perfect Days

Every night, just before bedtime, my 8-year-old son comes to find me, asking for "cuddles." It's his way of saying, "I need you to be still so that I can rest." In our home, we’ve raised our boys to be deeply in tune with themselves and their surroundings. They are free children (or at least we try to make them that way), allowed to explore and express themselves as freely as possible, with gentle guidance. I read two books when my oldest was younger, "Raising Positive Kids in a Negative World" by Zig Ziglar and " Raising Self-Reliant Children" by Jane Nelsen. I stumbled on these books 20-odd years ago; although these books are old, the lessons still apply. These books taught me to affirm their worth, abilities, and potential. They have their own affirmations and understand the power of manifestation, shaping their minds to look for the good in every situation.

In my meditative practice with my youngest, we use the Apple Fitness app, often playing sleep meditations to help ease him into a restful night. Last night we were listening to JoAnna's "Deep Focus" meditation. It’s become a quiet routine, a sacred space where we both slow down, shut off the world, and allow our minds to wander into peace.

But tonight, something interesting happened. In the middle of our meditation, he suddenly broke his quiet concentration, looked at me, and said, "Today was a perfect day." My heart just burst, and I asked, "What made today perfect?" Without hesitation, he responded, "Nothing bad happened."

Nothing bad happened.

Wow. I lay there with my heart full, thinking about his simple but profound words. I knew his day hadn’t been without its challenges. In fact, I knew his grandmother had him working overtime, drilling his times tables—something I know he didn’t love. I also knew that he probably didn’t get everything he wanted today, as is often the case. I made him eat squash and carrots at dinner. Yet in his childlike wisdom, his view was clear: today was perfect.

When was the last time you had a perfect day?

What would make your day perfect?

As adults, we often define our days by a long list of accomplishments or the absence of mishaps. Perfection is usually something distant, an unattainable ideal wrapped up in “if only” moments. But my son, in his innocence, reminded me that a perfect day doesn’t mean a day without mistakes or hardships—it simply means a day where nothing "bad" overshadows the good. It’s all about perspective.

Now I'm sitting here, thinking about my "bad day" and realizing that it was actually perfect.

I think about how often we allow small frustrations to dictate our moods or cloud our perception of the day. Imagine, though, if we shifted our mindset. What if more days could be “perfect” not because nothing went wrong, but because we chose to focus on what went right? We can learn a lot from children—the way they see the world with such open-hearted joy and acceptance.

A perfect day isn’t about getting everything you want. It’s about recognizing the beauty in the present moment, in the imperfections, and understanding that each day offers something good if you choose to see it.

A mind shift like this doesn’t just bring contentment—it can change the entire trajectory of your life. What would happen if you ended each day reflecting on what went right instead of what went wrong? What if, like my son, we declared our days perfect simply because they weren’t dominated by negativity?

The truth is, perfection exists in our perception, in the way we frame our experiences. And if we start looking for the good, even on days that feel challenging, maybe we’ll find that more days were perfect than we ever realized.