It was 4:30 in the morning. Something woke me from a deep sleep, though I don’t know what it was. I turned over and attempted to just go back to sleep, when a thought grew louder and louder and just kept growing in my mind. It was as though this thought was writing itself for this morning’s love letter. It was this:

We wake each day and put life on automatic pilot. We have our routines each morning and the day decides what kind of day it will be. We allow circumstances and events play out and dictate how we live our lives. And at the end of the day, we slide into home, our pockets full of the residuals of the day. At the end of the week we go, gratefully, into the weekend. And this continues until???  This is what begs the question that woke me from my sleep.  How are our lives measured?  Seconds turn to minutes, into hours and into days. Days turn to years and to seasons of our lives.

Do we measure our lives at the end?  Do we think that what we’re doing is just good enough? If we haven’t stated our goals, how will we know that we’ve reached them? How will we exceed our wildest dreams, if we haven’t actively dreamed them?

Looking life in the face I ask of it, is there more for me?  Am I swimming with the current? Is there joy? Am I happy? Am I loving?  Am I “home”?

This is not a dress rehearsal for the rest of my life. This is the only December 11, 2020 that I will ever dance on this earth to enjoy. Am I really living in this day?  Am I invested in this day? What excites me???

I know that we are all so busy with life. I look at the clock and see the seconds ticking by, but I hadn’t treasured them. I looked at the clock as a countdown to the end of the day.  In my mind, I’m hurrying it along so I can be done! Early this morning, from somewhere, the message was clear and concise. Take notice of the seconds that are passing. Don’t urge them to pass into hours and days, as those things are happening without our encouragement. This time that we have today is precious and it is holy. We can use it or misuse it, but one thing is certain. We won’t get it back. We have to make it count. You can’t un-throw a rock, or un-say something unkind or untrue. We can make conscious choices and celebrate those choices at the end of our lives.

It takes a precious second for a baby to take its first breath or for someone that we love to take their last. It takes one precious second to give someone a smile, especially when they don’t have one of their own. Only one second to open a door, to close a window when it’s just too cold. It takes a second to pet a dog, to make a decision to try harder or to call an Uber. It takes one second to wish a stranger a Merry Christmas . It takes but a second to say, “I love you.” These small ripples of love will change the world.

 I’m, consciously, going to be kinder, I’ll try harder to help. I want those that I love to feel that from me. I expect my dreams to come true each and every day, and they do. I will try harder to notice the seconds that tick by and to fill them with something that I can be proud of.   At the end of the day, what have I done that can be more important than that?

I guess the bottom line to all of this is that each and every day, we can and must decide what kind of day we are going to have. We can live our best lives. We will all find joy when and where we search for it. I expect abundance and joy and I’m rarely disappointed.  I wish the same for all of you.