What drives our days?

06/03/2026 Nilson Lattari

At the end of each day, we wonder: what have we done with our time?
We often share our time and goals with friends or family, or we do things for ourselves alone. But what truly drives our days?
At night, we rarely reflect on the events that shape our days. Over time, our daily lives often end in the same way: we repeat our routines, following the hands of the clock, social norms, and achievements, and we organise our lives like a bureaucratic procedure. We walk the same streets toward our goals and see the same people at work, at school, and at the supermarket. We do the same things, unaware that time is moving faster and faster.
We grow older and forget the first days of our lives: our first day at school, our first job, our first date, or the first competitions we spent so much time preparing for. Those days were full of emotion and surprise; everything was new, different, and unknown for us. Those early events excited us, and they were driven by emotion.
Days are made of adventure, desire, and hope. Over time, we lose these feelings and turn our days into hollow routines without emotion. Consequently, our lives become a series of days without dreams or a sense of the future.
Is it possible to turn hollow days into bright ones? Despite our family duties, work accomplishments, personal desires, and bills to pay, can we drive our days toward goals that please us?
Should consumerism be the only force that drives our days?
There are no medicines or magic formulas to guide our days. Days pass in sequence, and it is impossible to stop them. They seem like frames of a film, telling the stories of our existence. Like a film, our lives have their own “The end”, and at the same time, they are a leap into the unknown.
If we want our days to be small film frames with happy endings, we must consider that every day is already a happy event when we wake up and feel alive. Our days do not begin with the sunrise on the horizon, but when we wake up and have the chance to reinvent ourselves and make decisions for the future. Our days are driven by willpower and surprise. We surprise ourselves when we have breakfast in a cafe far from home, surrounded by strangers, because life is made of surprises and unexpected choices.
We shape our days when we decide to walk home, getting off the bus before reaching our usual stop. In doing so, we discover different people and places, or a strange shop we had never noticed before. We may find ourselves in amusing situations that make us smile. We might buy a different cookie in a bakery or start a new hobby. Simple things can turn into bold moments; who knows, maybe we may even allow ourselves a little madness.
Days offer opportunities to meet someone, a soulmate who may be looking out of a window, crossing a street, or working in a shop. They are moments of “small madness”, full of pleasure and the chance to return home with news and joys to share, or, simply, memories to remember at night. They are precious moments to read a book, cook a special recipe, or wander without destiny.
These small desires and choices can be enough to guide our days, turning them into memories or stories to tell, and wiping the sadness from our faces.