One Day at a Time
On the 11th of July, my family gave me the best birthing party I have ever had. My children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren all gathered at Green Lake, Wisconsin, where one of our children has a summer home. We built lots of memories and had a wonderful time.
After coming home, I read a short essay written by a person who had a responsibility to be at two different places, one right after the other, on the same day. When she arrived at the first place, she asked her host, “When will we need to leave here in order to get to our next appointment time?”
He answered, “We will leave here when we are ready. We need to give our full attention to the people here now, and we cannot do that if we are already thinking about whatever we are going to do next.”
Thinking about this response, the woman wrote, “I realized how difficult it is to live in the present.” My mind went back to the four days of the gathering/family reunion/birthday party. We were certainly living in the present: talking, eating, swimming, boating, taking pictures, watching children – living in the present. How difficult it is to live in the present when we are home, in our “real world.”
When a person becomes my age (born before 1935), one finds it really easy to live in the past. After all, I have great memories of my family days in Los Angeles, my marriage, the birth of our children, my days at Anderson High School. I have pictures albums filled with pictures of vacations all kinds of family activities, school pictures of children and grandchildren. You know what I mean. You probably have albums also, and now your smartphone is loaded with pictures. They are so each to take. However, it’s great fun to take a whole afternoon and just turn pages in the old albums going down “Memory Lane,” reminiscing on by-gone days.
Now the future is another whole consideration. When a person becomes my age, one has to fact the fact that the future can be quite short. So then it is easy to get depressed and stew about what lies ahead. How much time do I have left? What will my death be like? I would like to see my grandson get married in December and my great-grandson graduate from high school next spring. Should I make plans to go? Physically I can tell my body is closing down. Should I even make any plans for the future at all? And then I find myself worrying about what the future holds for my family and it troubles me because I can’t do anything about it.
The theme of the short essay really helped me; the author is right. I need to concentrate on living a day at a time. The past is gone, carrying with it all my memories, some powerful, some painful, some beautiful, but gone just the same. On the other hand, I can do nothing about the future., only develop ulcers if I allow myself to worry about it. So what is left? Today. The Psalmist has written, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” Psalm 118:24). I have decided to recite this verse every morning and live just one day at a time. Today, I rise from bed and prepare for what this day requires of me to do. Today, I write that note to someone who is ill. Today, I will make the needed phone call. Today, I will do my best to be a contributing citizen. Today, I am thankful to be alive.