The precious gift of "Today"
"Yesterday's the past, tomorrow's the future, but today is a gift. That's why it's called the present."
--Bil Keane
Do you ever sit and ponder your life's journey?
Where you're headed (the future)?
Or perhaps, where you've been (the past)?
Most all of us have made mistakes we wish we could take back or handle differently, but of course that's impossible. None among us own a time machine.
But regardless of any mistakes we might have made in the past, most of us have had some great successes as well...
Whether it was earning a college degree and getting a great job, surviving a dread disease, raising wonderful, successful children or simply managing to keep this vehicle called life between the lines, most everyone has enjoyed a number of successes over the years.
If you could somehow go back and erase the mistakes you've made, would you do it even if it meant you'd have to erase the successes along with them?
Probably not. I know I wouldn't.
I've sure made my fair share of mistakes over the years, and some of them were far from minor. But like most folks, I've had some extremely satisfying successes as well.
Life on earth is one long train of successes and failures, and regardless of our individual destinations we all ride on the same track.
In my mind, the key to life isn't dwelling on the failures of the past. Instead, it's looking forward to the future while enjoying the TODAY that God has given us, to the best of our ability.
It's fine to apologize to the people we've hurt in the past and ask for their forgiveness, and we should. But that's all we can do because we can't go back and relive the past, even if we wanted to.
And the flip-side is true as well. As much as we might desire to, we can't leap forward into the future.
We can plan for the future, and the prudent among us do.
But we can't LIVE the future until that next "today" arrives. And only God has control over when - or even if - that next "today" will arrive.
The only day of our entire lives that we have a modicum of control over is TODAY - the one and only day we are experiencing at this very moment.
Let's all strive to make the most of it.
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