Growing up, someone taught me that life was basically a giant shit sandwich, and every day you had to take a bite. Harsh visual, I know. Not exactly the kind of wisdom you knit on a pillow. I heard that at five years old, which probably explains a few things about my personality and my questionable sense of humor.
Luckily, I picked up a better life philosophy later. It showed up during a job interview, of all places. I walked in thinking about career growth and stability, and walked out with two words that completely rewired how I think about gratitude.
The manager kicked off the conversation with a simple, “How are you doing today?”
I said, “Great, how about yourself?”
And he replied, “Never better.”
I froze. Never better? Who says that? This dude must be living in a hammock strung between two palm trees sipping happiness smoothies. Either that or he was being sarcastic, which honestly felt more likely.
Turns out it was both. The phrase was born during a moment where everything around him was on fire, so he leaned into humor and said it sarcastically. But somewhere along the line, it stuck. That half joke turned into a daily practice. And eventually, it became one of the simplest, sneakiest ways to stay grounded in gratitude.
And here is what hit me: on the days he is not feeling it, he still uses it. He just adds a percentage. Sixty five percent never better. Forty percent never better. Whatever the number is, it’s honest. Some days your forty percent is actually your one hundred percent. That counts.
People get gratitude wrong. They think it is supposed to make you feel warm and inspired, like a scene from a wellness retreat commercial. But gratitude is not a mood. It is a disruptor. It slices through the noise in your head and forces your brain to recalibrate, even for a second.
When you answer with something like “Never better,” you are not pretending life is perfect. You are saying, “I made it here. I have survived one hundred percent of my worst days.” That matters. Especially when the world around you feels like a malfunctioning laptop with forty seven tabs open.
The other fun part? People react. They smile or they get curious. Both reactions pull you into connection. The phrase becomes a doorway. I have used it to start conversations with people I never would have talked to otherwise.
My family had their own version of this idea long before I recognized it. My grandfather always said, “I’m this side of the grass,” which is a beautifully chaotic way of saying, “Still alive, still moving, still grateful.” A cashier once told me, “I was on God’s callback list today,” which is honestly one of the best lines I have ever heard at a checkout counter.
These tiny one-liners are not magic spells. They are anchors. They keep you from sliding down the mental hills of stress and frustration. On the tough days, gratitude is like grabbing the railing in the dark. It does not fix the hard stuff, but it steadies you long enough to breathe again.
So try it. Next time someone asks how you are doing, grab your version of “Never better.” Notice how it shifts things. Notice how it makes you feel a little more rooted and a little less tossed around.
Gratitude may not save your whole day, but it might save the next moment. And sometimes that is enough.