This Day Is A Gift. Make Today Count.

We know each day is a gift, right? I mean, we understand we’re not guaranteed another one, and there will never be another today. In pondering this, however, I asked myself some questions. Do I treat each day as the gift it is? Do I make each day count?

Thinking back over the last three months, well, I’ve learned a lot. We all have! On the surface, I was doing okay, But deep down, I was a wreck. No lie. Fearful of leaving my home, I stayed hunkered down here as much as humanly possible. I was safe here, but out in the world? Well, I was likely to catch this virus. I had heard and read enough to convince me I wanted no part of this coronavirus. Who does?? Thoughts of contracting it consumed my mind, day and night. The “what ifs” confounded me.

In living this way it was difficult to appreciate each day as a gift.

I thanked God each day for protecting us from the virus, and I thanked Him for my health. I thanked Him for every single day. Yet, I desired to fast-forward to the future, of days beyond the virus. To get life back to normal. To return to life the way it was. God, please rid the earth of this pandemic.

It didn’t take long for the days to run together. For me to forget what day of the week it was. Or was it the weekend? Some days I had no idea. Every day was a blurred reality. It truly felt as if I was living a real-life Groundhog Day. Over and over and over again. Time was slipping by me, and I didn’t like it.

Oh, I kept busy, though. I wrote and journaled every day. (That helped!) I tried new recipes and made my now favorite chocolate chip cookies or a batch of Chex Mix nearly every week. I began to enjoy cooking (sort of). So, it’s no wonder the numbers on the bathroom scale began to climb. But those cookies are so good!

I truly did attempt to make each day count, but looking back, I don’t think I succeeded very well. Because I don’t remember much of April. And May? Well, that nearly slipped by me too. And here we are, already in June. COVID-19 has taken much from us, and the sad part is, I’ve allowed it to steal the beauty of living in the moment. Dang, coronavirus.

I can’t get those days back, unfortunately, but from this day forward I can make each one count.

In tomorrow’s post I’ll share some ways I’m intentionally doing that, but for now, I’m simply focused on living in the moment. Stopping myself from over-thinking about the future or over-reminiscing the past. Just living in the now. This moment. Today. Doing all I can to make today count.

Because it most certainly does.

Friend, what are you doing to make today count? How are you living in the moment? What steps are you taking to prevent your days from running into one another? How are you treating today as the gift it is?

I get a chuckle from the Voice translation of Ephesians 5:15-17:

So be careful how you live; be mindful of your steps. Don’t run around like idiots as the rest of the world does. Instead, walk as the wise! Make the most of every living and breathing moment because these are evil times. So understand and be confident in God’s will, and don’t live thoughtlessly.

Ephesians 5:15-17 VOICE

I want to walk as the wise. I want to make the most of every living and breathing moment. Don’t you? How about you and I make each one count today? Let’s do this.

Blessings,