TODAY EVERYDAY
ALL WE HAVE IS TODAY
“Success is loving life and daring to live it.”
We tend to think that life contains an endless amount of days. We are notorious for putting things off for tomorrow…or the next day…or next week. We’re quick to let go of what we should hold onto, and hold onto what we should let go. We hold onto grudges we should release while letting go of moments we should keep. This is because we’ve become desensitized to the gift that each day presents.
Yet at the risk of sounding cliche, no one is promised tomorrow.
No one is promised tomorrow.
When I think of my life, and how I live each day, I do it in light of what I believe and know. I know I still have passions. I still have desires. I’m not all that I want to be nor have I accomplished all that I want to accomplish. Not only do I believe, but know that there is still more to me. It’s like a fire deep within me. That fire within me (and you), is called desire. Philosophers call it existential angst. This is the desire to make our lives count.
I don’t believe that most of us struggle with desire. We all want to make our lives counts. We want to live lives that matter. We envision ourselves living a life, greater than ourselves. Our struggle isn’t with what we want to do, but with how we actually live, each day.
We approach our days with a heighten posture toward nonchalantness. We live, waiting and hoping life will happen rather than making life happen. Meandering through our days, we dismiss the beauty and wonder and importance of each moment. How many of us can look back at days, unfortunately gone by, with nothing to show for them? I know this may sound heavy, but it’s the reality of our daily lives. We live life, believing that there will be an unlimited pool of other opportunities.
Every morning, we’re presented with the gift of today. That’s it. We’re given an opportunity to make today count. Putting things off results in us losing valuable time. Time is our greatest asset and most valuable tool How we live each day will determine whether we lose time or actually invest it.
The truth is, everyday should be lived as our best day.
Because of this, I want to live each day, as if it were my best day. I don’t want to meander through my days, allowing them to pass me by. I want to find ways to make the greatest impact on the people I interact with and the things I engage in.
I want to wake with a sense of purpose, live the day with a sense of wonder and sleep at night with a sense of fulfillment.
With this in mind, I’d like to share 5 things that have helped me live each day, the best way possible.
1. Create Intention in Your Life and Find a Compelling Purpose
“It should not be enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something.” ~Winston S. Churchill
Stop pretending like you are going to live forever. Live your life with a sense of urgency. Live your life so that every second is on purpose. Live your life so that every action you take is intentional and impactful and pushes you towards a life that feels meaningful and important.
2. Stop Holding onto Old Grudges (a.k.a. Just Let it Go)
“Holding onto a grudge is like swallowing poison and expecting the other person to die” ~David T.S. Wood
Whatever you are holding onto, whatever keeps you up at night, whatever negative emotion has been rolling around your head for weeks…Just let it go.
It isn’t worth it and being mad about it won’t change anything. If there is a burning issue relating to someone that you care about then take charge. Address the situation, confront the person, and tell them how you really feel. Speak up and address it if the other person matters to you. If the other person doesn’t matter to you, take the even bigger step and drop it. Let it go. Drop them. Let them go.
3. Do Something You’re Afraid Of
“Sometimes, what you’re afraid of doing is the very the that will set you free.” - Robert Tew
Every day, choose to do something that scares you. Make a bold decision right now and go do it. Your dreams are on the other side of your fears and your life will improve by leaps and bounds if you do it, even while afraid.
4. Stay in Touch with the People You Love
“There is nothing on this earth to be prized more than true friendship.” ~Thomas Aquinas
Relationships are what make us human. Living well, loving strong and being loved is what makes our good news, great. Don’t let another day go by without you reaching out to a loved one, and expressing in whatever way, why you love them so much.
5. Just Choose Joy
“There is no path to joy. Joy is the path.” ~Buddha
Joy is a choice. We may not always get to choose what happens to us, but we do have the choice to be joyful. Joy transcends happiness because happiness is contingent on what happens. When we choose joy, happenstance can’t determine it and won’t be able to take it away. Just choose joy.
Alright my friends, may we live today a story we’d want to tell tomorrow.
- Joel