Don’t Miss Today While Planning Tomorrow

I have always been someone who thinks about what comes next. What needs to be done tomorrow? What needs to happen next week? What am I working toward next month or next year?

There is nothing wrong with planning. We have responsibilities, goals, and dreams that require us to look ahead. But I am learning that there is a difference between preparing for tomorrow and allowing tomorrow to consume today.

Sometimes we can spend so much time thinking about what is coming that we completely miss what is already here.

Life is happening right now.

It is happening in the conversation across the dinner table. It is happening during the drive home from work. It is happening when someone we love calls just to talk. It is happening in an ordinary morning, a familiar laugh, a quiet evening, and a few minutes spent with people who matter to us.

Those moments can seem insignificant when they are happening. Looking back, however, we often discover they were some of the most important moments of our lives.

Time has a way of moving faster than we expect.

Children grow up. Parents and grandparents grow older. Friends move away. Jobs change. Communities change. Seasons come and go. People who were once part of our everyday lives can suddenly become people we wish we had one more afternoon with.

That is why I am trying to become more intentional about living in the moment I have been given.

I don't want to spend today worrying about problems that may never happen tomorrow. I don't want to become so focused on reaching the next destination that I fail to appreciate where I am standing right now.

There will always be another task to complete. There will always be another goal to pursue, another deadline approaching and another item waiting on the calendar.

But there will never be another today.

That thought puts a lot of things into perspective for me.

My faith also reminds me that tomorrow has never been promised to any of us. I believe we should be responsible and prepare for the future, but I also believe there is wisdom in recognizing each day for what it is: a gift.

Sometimes enjoying that gift means slowing down long enough to notice it.

Put the phone down for a while. Have the conversation. Sit on the porch. Watch the sunset. Tell someone you love them. Laugh a little longer. Make the visit you have been putting off. Enjoy dinner instead of rushing through it. Appreciate the people sitting around the table while they are still sitting there.

And when life gives you an ordinary day, don't automatically assume ordinary means unimportant.

Some of the memories I treasure most were probably ordinary days when they happened.

We spend a great deal of our lives waiting. We wait for Friday. We wait for vacation. We wait for the next opportunity. We wait until we have more money, more time, or fewer responsibilities. We tell ourselves that once something changes, then we will slow down and enjoy life.

But life isn't waiting for us to get everything organized.

The clock keeps moving.

I still believe in planning for tomorrow. I still believe in setting goals and working hard toward the future. But I don't want tomorrow to receive so much of my attention that today gets whatever is left over.

There has to be room for both.

Prepare for tomorrow, but live today.

Love people today. Forgive today. Encourage somebody today. Be thankful today. Notice the blessings around you today. Take the picture. Make the memory. Say what needs to be said.

Because someday, we may look back and realize that the days we were rushing through were the very days we wish we could have back.

Life is fleeting. Time is precious. Tomorrow will arrive soon enough.

For now, I want to be present for today.