In Pursuit of TODAY

Today is the day before tomorrow. It’s now. It’s this very day.

Tomorrow is the day after today. It’s in the future. It’s closer than the day after tomorrow.

Whatever you do today will determine if you will be happy, fulfilled, arrive at your destination, or if you will be making excuses once again. Don’t settle to do things tomorrow what needs to be done today. It doesn’t matter what others are doing today, it only matters what you are doing today.

I remember one of my daughters painstakingly scrap-booking her firstborn’s first year. In this not very simple scrapbook was the day the baby arrived home from the hospital, the first smile, rolling over, first tooth, first step, pictures and pictures of the baby, and lots of memorabilia. What made it special was the tomorrows when the family would sit flipping through the pages with bursts of ‘Oohs and Aahs’ as we recall the memories of their first child, our first grandchild and nephew to my other girls.

What my daughter did everyday created memories for the family’s tomorrows that lived on as her firstborn grew into a fine young man with a healthy outlook on life. My grandson’s future isn’t hard to predict because he grew up in a healthy loving home with extended family members who raised the bar higher for him from our own experiences. 

No one’s future is hard to predict. Simply observe where their priorities lie, and the consequences are sure to follow. Robert Zink says, “Your thoughts determine your actions. Your actions determine your future.” 

Being busy doesn’t say a lot. How many of us are sometimes very busy and at the end of the day we are exhausted but with little to show for all the effort we put into today? Without a specific goal or plan for each day we could be pretty busy running around in circles. It’s like a plane soaring into the clear blue sky without a destination. It burns a lot of fuel, carries a full load of passengers without tickets heading to a place call ‘Nowhere Specific.’

Whatever you do today make sure it’s grabbing your attention. IF it wouldn’t stop nagging you then you know you have found your passion. When you are passionate, it motivates you even though you may have many urgent things on your to-do-list. If you don’t enjoy what you are doing today, you will never reach where you want to be tomorrow.

When tomorrow comes you must NOT feel like you have wasted today. Whatever you do today make sure it’s making you into the person you are dreaming of becoming tomorrow. I don’t want to be where I was last year, it’s no fun being stuck in a hollow container looking up at the sky. If you want to relax and enjoy life do something today that you absolutely love.

Mark Twain said, ‘The two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why.”

Let’s start celebrating every birthday living in the moments of the whys. Find out what inspires you and get up every morning ready to start the day. Some days there are more distractions than other days …  but inspiration plus perspiration plus passion plus determination will make your tomorrow look positively radiant.