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Just Today

18 Jun

From time to time we all worry about things. Perhaps there’s been something on your mind, and it just won’t leave you alone. You can’t help it. You think about it constantly. You worry about what’s coming. You worry about what will happen tomorrow. We all have concerns sometimes, and they can make us worry – sometimes for good reason, sometimes unnecessarily. Whether the reason is good or not, worrying about what might happen doesn’t change anything. All it does is take us out of the present. We can’t fully live the day we’re in if we’re worrying about a day to come.

Each day we have on earth is a blessing. We take them for granted, and sometimes just go through the motions, but each day is a blessing. We often realize what an enormous blessing they are when they are suddenly threatened. Something happens where we understand we might not have tomorrow. We may get sick, a friend may die, or there may be a disaster that wakes us up, and makes us realize how lucky we are to have today. Today is the only day we can live. We can’t live tomorrow yet – it hasn’t arrived. Yesterday is gone, and nothing can be done to take us back to it. So we have just this one day. And if we spend it worrying about what tomorrow will bring, we will have wasted it.

We are powerful, and capable beings. We can do a lot when we want to. But most of us cannot read the future. We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow or even five minutes from now. We are living now – not later. What will come to us after this is out of our control. So how can we manage something that is worrisome? A good way to let the worry go is to do something about what’s going on in our lives today. There is something we can take care of today, there is something we can work on today, and there is something we can manage today. While we’re working on today, we won’t have time to worry about tomorrow. We are managing our lives as they roll forward. Tomorrow will get here when it gets here. What comes will come. And whatever it is, we will face it then.

If you’re worried, and having trouble letting it go, do something that is important today. Work hard. Get busy living today. You’ll get things done, your mind will be focused on something productive, and you will forget to worry. Tomorrow you will handle whatever comes. You are perfectly capable of handling it – tomorrow. Today is all that concerns you now. One day at a time is all we have. Live your life that way. Live today. It’s a great day to be alive.

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No Thank You

13 Jun

We have opportunities to do a lot of things every day. There are always tasks that must be done, chores we must manage, and other responsibilities. And there are fun options as well. Our friends, and family play a part in our daily tasks when they need, or want us to do something with them, or for them. Most of us like to be helpful, and we try to comply as much as possible when someone wants our time. But sometimes that isn’t possible. And sometimes we really don’t want to do what is being asked.

Just because someone thinks we should do something, doesn’t mean we are compelled to do it. It’s easy to fall into the trap that we must do everything we are asked to do, but that isn’t true. It’s up to us. We can say no. Even if the person asking us really wants us to go along, we have the power to decline. It’s one thing if they really need our help, and we want to be there. But sometimes the request has less to do with need, and more to do with what the other person wants us to do.

For instance, if we have a network of friends that we do things with socially, we may enjoy that. But sometimes our lives change, and we may decide we don’t want to spend so much time with them. Sometimes we want to do other things. There may be pressure from the group to keep the status quo, not to change the pattern. But if we want to move on to something else, we may. Pressure from others will always affect our decisions, but in the end we should feel empowered to do what is best for us, and nobody knows what that is but us. We can, and we should, choose that. It’s not selfish to direct our own lives. It’s appropriate. We can be kind and giving, while still ensuring we are doing what is most important to us.

Today, if you’re feeling pressured to do something you really don’t want to do, you may say, “No, thank you.” You may politely decline. If others insist that you go along, you may still politely decline. It’s up to you. Smile and be gracious, but stay true to what is best for you. The road you’re on is yours alone. You get to choose the steps. Make the best choice that will take you where you want to be. And be confident. When we choose what’s best for us, it’s the best choice to make.

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Just As You Are

11 Jun

Today there is a lot of pressure on us to be perfect. We’re bombarded with messages that we have to be fit, and look good. We have to eat a certain way. All our relationships need to be happy. We have to wear nice clothes, style our hair in the latest trend, and have money in the bank. We must look young, and vibrant at every age. These messages are constant in the media all around us every day. The goal is perfection, but nobody is perfect. Since we aren’t perfect, we may question ourselves. Are we doing enough? Are we trying hard enough? Why aren’t we enough just as we are? It’s exhausting. Somewhere the world went crazy, and perfection became the new expectation. But perfection is just a goal. In this life, it’s not the achievement.

It’s easy to feel like we are less than we should be up against such high standards. It’s easy to feel bad, and think we don’t measure up, when in fact, we’re probably just fine. Our standards should be set by us. We need to determine what we want our lives to be like, and what they should look like. Nobody is living our lives but us. We get to custom make them, and decide how they work. We can set our own goals as high as we like. We can do anything, but we should do what we want to do, and not what others think we should do. It’s okay if we’re average height, average weight, average intelligence, and have an average sized bank account. We can strive for more if we want, but wherever we are, we can be happy. We’re fine where we are. In fact, we’re perfectly fine.

Our lives can be anything we want them to be, and they never have to match someone else’s ideas. If we let others decide how we should live, we will never figure out what we really want. And discovering what we really want for ourselves is the first step to true happiness. We will be happy if we are living our lives our way, and we all deserve to be happy.

Today, be who you are. Ignore all the messages that you have to be more, do more, and look a certain way. If you want to change something, make a plan and change it. If you’re happy with things the way they are, enjoy yourself. This is your time to make the most of your life. Do it your way. Nobody can live your life better than you. You know exactly how it should go. And when you’re doing it your way, nothing will stop you from getting what you want. The end of the rainbow does not have a pot of gold. You have it every day you choose to be happy. Today, make that choice. Be happy. You are perfect just as you are.

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Leaving a Mark

8 Jun

If you walk through the woods in an area where nobody has been in a long time, the trail may be undisturbed. Once you step on it, it will be changed because you were there. Your footsteps will leave a mark. The leaves will shift a bit, and the dirt will hold the imprint of your feet. There will be evidence of your presence. That evidence will remain undisturbed until someone new steps over your prints, but even then, they will not completely eradicate your impression. It will remain. Even though it may be altered, your presence will still be evident.

As we go through our lives, we are taking footsteps at each turn. And everything we do, everyone we see, every decision we make leaves an imprint – a mark that remains after we’re gone. It is impossible to live on earth and not make an impression. We cannot escape it. We are not invisible or weightless. We are here, tangible and interacting. Whatever we do changes things. Good or bad, we will leave a mark.

It’s important, therefore, that we take some time to think about the impact we are making. Are we a positive influence? Are we doing things that make the world better? Are we leaving the imprints of a life full of good choices? Or are we destroying the path with anger and strife? Are we churning up the dirt with disharmony and conflict? If we’re doing negative things, we may try to use others to cover our tracks, to hide where we’ve been, or what we’ve done. That may work for a while, but eventually, the marks we leave will return to us. After all, they were made by our footsteps – our choices – and there is no way to change that.

Our days are filled with decisions. Choices that will bring happiness or sorrow, goodness or grief, success or failure. Sometimes its easy to see what results our choices will bring, but other times it’s harder to discern, so it’s important to ponder before we choose. Easy or difficult, our choices are ours to make. We can choose to do whatever we want, for any reason we like. But we must remember in every choice, that we are leaving an imprint. We are leaving our mark, and we own the results of each choice.

Today, before you decide, remember that you will leave your mark behind. Choose carefully so the impressions you leave are exactly where you want them to be, and say exactly what you want them to say. Today, before you decide, take a moment to reflect. Your footprints are yours to make. But after you take that step, it will last forever. It will last forever. Your decisions are the evidence that you were here. You’re going to leave a mark. Make it a good one.

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Interesting and Important

6 Jun

A very wise man once told me, “In our lives, some things are interesting, and other things are important.” A simple statement, but over the course of time I have pondered it again, and again. There are certainly a lot of interesting things in life. Our world is diverse, and there are new things to learn every single day. We have the continual opportunity to embrace new ideas, learn about different places, experience fun and interesting events, and do something new. There is more to see, and do than we could ever complete in one lifetime.

And there are things in our lives that are important. The most important things tend to be intangible. We may want to work on being more patient, show more compassion, be stronger in our convictions, help others more, be kinder – whatever they are, they are very important goals that deserve our attention. Because they are intangible, the reminders to do them can be illusive. There is no alarm clock going off to remind us to be kind today. It must come from within us.

Of course, there are important tangible things as well – the mundane chores that must be done so we can get along effectively, the attention to our families, our relationships, and our jobs, the maintenance issues we all deal with, and a thousand other things. All of these tangible things are important, and must be tended to.

It seems logical then, that our important tasks should take priority over other interesting endeavors. But, sometimes the interesting things take precedence. We get pulled away, we get distracted, and what is most important to us gets pushed back. After a while we realize we haven’t accomplished what we’d hoped. We got our necessary tasks done, but we were so busy with all the interesting things around us, we didn’t work on our personal goals at all. We were just too busy. It happens, and if we don’t plan carefully, it will happen regularly.

If we get carried away with the interesting things in our lives, and forget the important things we really want to accomplish, we may get lost. Living comfortably is often about order. If we can address what is most important to us first, and then move on to what is interesting afterward, we’ll probably be more comfortable. We’ll be more confident knowing that we accomplished what we wanted to do most. When we take care of the things that are most important to us, we have more peace in our lives.

Today, if you have something important that you really want to do, make it a priority. There will probably be interruptions, and something truly interesting and fun may come up. But finish the important task first, work on your personal goals, and make time for what means most to you. Plan your days this way, and you’ll have more control over your direction, and more fun in your pleasures. It’s all about order. Plan to succeed. Do your first things first. Then relax, confident that no matter what else comes today, you’ve accomplished what was most important.

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