Today

Today is Saturday, July 14, 2012. It is one day of my life.

 Sometimes I might over think things. My family would all be nodding in enthusiastic agreement to that statement. But seriously, have you ever thought about how special, amazing, precious, and brief one day can be. Some days are completely forgettable. Unfortunately, for most of us, I fear that most days are so. We allow days to just run together like scoops of different flavors of ice cream left in a bowl to melt. They turn into something much less appetizing than intended. Some days are written on our hearts like a monogram on a locket. There are the days we remember with much joy, such as the birth of a child. There are days that we would rather forget but cannot, like September 11, 2001.

But what about all of the days in-between?

I have often, in my over-thinking kind of way, wondered how I would feel if someone secretly videotaped my life and played it back for me. How many days would be video-worthy? If I sat down and said what my priorities are, would the video match the list, or am I kidding myself? I think I would want to edit that video. I would want it to show the days when I was most kind, productive, or generous. I don't think I would so much want to watch the days that I wasted on being unkind, unproductive, or selfish. According to my math, I have lived 20319 and 1/2  days so far. Twenty thousand, three hundred nineteen and one half! And every single one of those days has been lived as a citizen of the United States of America... the land of opportunity. As opposed to a lot of places in the world, this is a place where a person has a choice. We are born free. It is then up to us to decide what to do with that. We can soar or we can crawl. And so much of whether we end up at the top or bottom of the food chain  is what we decide to do with each one of the days that we've been given. And whether or not we would be proud of that videotape of our days is up to us too.

I don't know how many days I have left. None of us do. But I know that I want to soar, not crawl. I also want to be proud of that video. Maybe each day won't be front-page amazing, but if I set out to fill each day with purpose.... with kindness, productivity, generosity, wisdom, appreciation, and love, then the frames of that video will be one that I can be proud of.