Living Day One

“The chief beauty about time is that you cannot waste it in advance. The next year, the next day, the next hour are lying ready for you, as perfect, as unspoiled, as if you had never wasted or misapplied a single moment in all your life. You can turn over a new leaf every hour if you choose.” ― Arnold Bennett

What are you going to do today?

As the sun continues elevating outside of my kitchen window, this is the question I ask myself.

Yes, I have several phone calls, a couple meetings, and a media interview. Yes, I’m leaving work early for a school function and taking one of my sons to a Boy Scout meeting. Yes, I promised the kids we’d barbecue tonight and (if they were good for mom today) a little ice cream tonight, too.

But what am I really going to do today?

Yesterday some 2.2 billion people around the world celebrated Easter.

Whether you believe in the fullness of that celebration or not, there is no denying that Easter weekend recalls a moment in time that shifted the entire trajectory of the world.

A simple dinner with friends, the humility of washing their feet, the betrayal at the hands of a dear friend, the denial by the closest of friends, the beating, the scourging, the cross, the death, the darkness, the abject brokenness in the days that follow. And then, a stone gets pushed back, light enters darkness, life arrests death, good overcomes evil.

And then what?

That’s the part of the story that always fascinates me. It’s easy to show up and be fully engaged for the big events, but what about the following day?

It’s easy to look great and say all the right things for the first date, or the engagement party, or the marriage, but what about day two? Or year two? Or year 22?

It’s easy to have a good first interview, or first day on the job, or successful launch of the product, but then what? Yet, how do you stay on fire for your work, relationships, and life through the ups and downs, the beautiful and tragic, the exciting and mundane?

After the good news entered into the lives of Jesus’ followers, they had to wake up on Monday morning, surrounded by trouble, pursued by authorities, uncertain in strategy, and decide what to do with their days. What’s the next step? Where do we go from here? What should we do with our days?

And, to no lesser significance, it’s the same opportunity that exists before all of us today.

What am I really going to do today? How will I lead, serve, work, play, teach, parent, guide, grow, impact, live?

The secret embraced by all who enjoy truly vibrant relationships, inspired marriages, productive careers, and remarkable lives is in consciously choosing to treat each day, every day, as if it is the very first day. [Tweet this] | [Share on Facebook]

As you struggle with a few uncertainties in your days, as the political screaming gets even louder, as tension enters your relationships, finances, health, life; instead of being crushed by mistakes made along the journey or dreading the uncertainty of tomorrow: wake up to the great miracle of this day, this moment, this life.

For you see, the chief beauty about time is that you cannot waste it in advance.

The next year, the next day, the next hour are lying ready for you as perfect, as unspoiled, as if you had never wasted or misapplied a single moment in all your life.

You can turn over a new leaf every hour if you choose.

This is day one of the rest of your life. What a gift!

This is your day. Live Inspired.

What will you do today to wake up to the great miracle of this day, this moment, this life? Share your plans in the comments below.