Making the Best of Our Days

Do you ever sit back and wonder what it is you did yesterday, who you talked to, what you wore and what you ate? Sure, we all forget once in a while, get busy and simply don’t try to remember every little detail about each day, but are we letting it slide too much by not remembering the small things? Are we using excuses to not remember, to forget what we said we would do and end up losing ourselves in the shuffle?

Have you ever stopped to smell the roses and connect with your own being, your inner core? Sometimes we ignore our own thoughts and feelings so we can attend to others and end up spending all of our own energy making those around us happy. What if we woke up each day acknowledging what we are grateful for, what we love about ourselves, took a little extra time to reflect about yesterday and set a few small goals for the day ahead. I wonder if we’d feel more relaxed and connected and be able to better manage stress.

I believe in taking care of ourselves before we try and take care of others. Our health is important, without a grounded mind, body and soul we can’t possibly survive in the chaos that will always exist around us. In time our bodies will say no and begin to slow down, we will become fatigued and eventually, give up. But when we give up, we are choosing to say no to life, no to the everyday beauty that comes with being alive. We are choosing to say no to the loved ones around us, who care about us and we eventually put ourselves in danger of shutting down. You soon realize that you’re slowly becoming that person who you fear to encounter in your own daily life…that tired, crabby and unpleasant person who you don’t want to be around.

On the flip-side, there are those people you meet who you can tell are truly happy and seem to always be enjoying life. That’s the kind of person I want to strive to be, while at the same time still recognizing that there will be trials and tribulations along the way. I try to remember each day that we get one precious life, one precious chance to make a difference, so why not love with all our hearts, smile a little more freely and be grateful for what we do have. Because you never know when it may be all gone, just like that and sometimes without warning. Live each day to the fullest and live mindfully, in the present moment.

“The secret to change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” (Socrates)