Make Your Day Count
“Today isn’t just another day. Today I’ll create something beautiful.” ~ Austin Kleon
We have been experiencing “just another day” for many days now. This pandemic has altered the way we look at our lives and the manner in which we go about our lives. Instead of being out and about, we have turned to dreaming about the day we will be able to go out and about. Instead of doing things with family, friends, and co-workers, we can only hope to be able to get together again sometime in the, hopefully, near future.
Even when our states “open up” again after the initial crux of the pandemic, there will be many people who are too timid to venture out. They will continue to sequester themselves inside until they ultimately feel safe. When that will be, no one can guess.
Yes, our lives have been altered. Many of us may be “existing” day by day rather than living day by day. We need to do something to shake us from that lived reality. We need to embody today’s quote and see today not as just “another day” but as the day we will do something beautiful.
Our students have been existing for the past couple of months. Day in and day out, they would remain in their homes, get out their computers, connect online, check in for attendance, and do their work, often engaging in virtual class presentations. The teachers, of course, were doing the same thing. It was hard for teacher and student alike to spice things up and make the day exciting. That is easier to do when face-to-face.
Now that the school year is over but social isolation still is being encouraged, teacher and student alike could easily find themselves saying, “Now what?! Today is just another day like every other day for the past few months.” No. No, it’s not.
Each day is a day of opportunity. We must tell ourselves that — over and over again, if necessary — in order to shake ourselves out of our lethargy. If we fail to do so, we will fall into a rut and our days will then go on day by day without change and without hope. God made us for more than that.
In our spiritual lives, we often come to the same feeling. Some of the saints have called that their desert experience. They felt the monotony of sameness in their spiritual lives and wondered how long it would be before they could shake their negative feelings.
Today is a new day. God is with us. He wants us to look ahead with joy. Create something beautiful today.
FAITH ACTION: Ask God to help you face today and the future with hope and joy.