A day may come when my desire and need to help others disappears… but it is not THIS day. Today, I choose to be aware of those around me, regardless of my own place in the world. Some days we are tired. Some days we are sick. Some, we don’t even really feel like getting out of bed. But regardless of where I find myself today, I choose to want to give. It is my human obligation.
Watching the news today was a not-so-gentle reminder of how quickly life can change. How fragile this earth and all of us on it in fact are. We don’t choose natural disaster… but we can choose how we feel, how we respond and how we live the the lives we have been blessed with. Not just any day…. but TODAY. Today we choose that. We are all here, living and breathing and sharing. I choose this day to share with you.
A day may come when my integrity doesn’t lead my life…but it is not THIS day. Today, I choose to act in a way that creates strength. It is a way of being, not ever questioning if it feels right in my gut. Integrity is who I am when I am sitting alone in my office, behind a closed door, with a strong desire to make someone else’s life just a little bit easier. It is thinking and doing that coincide. It is following through with what I have said I would do. It is commitment. It is being true to my vision and true to the mission statement on my wall that I stare at every day. It’s challenging myself to go further, push harder and make more of an impact as long as it benefits others.
A day may come when passion is no longer important…but it is not THIS day. Today, I choose passion to drive me. I find the burning desire in my gut to create, to think, to give of myself. When asked what my favorite word is, I always answer “Passion.” It’s the center of all things that have any meaning to me. I truly believe some people float through life more at the surface of the world, only experience some of what that feels and looks life, while others spend time in a deeper place, living and loving more passionately, more deeply… with a greater negative impact though when things hurt. I would gladly have to hurt more if I could experience a deeper and more intense passion.
A day may come when I choose mediocrity over excellence…but it is not THIS day. Today, I choose to honor those around me and those who have gone before me with giving my best to every piece of my day. I choose to smile more at others, to listen more intently, to understand without having to be understood. Today, this day, I choose to make an impact for someone else. A phone call, a gesture of encouragement to someone who is struggling, a re-commitment to striving for more than just being ok. Some days get busy. We fly through life like a machine, getting things done, going to bed and doing it all over again tomorrow. Today, I remind myself to slow down. To think about how my hectic life impacts those around me.
A day may come when my courage fails…but it is not THIS day.
It is so easy to allow fear to take control. To let it climb in the driver’s seat and keep me from taking another step into the unknown. To destroy my faith, to make me question who and why and how and when. To steer me off track and down a road that I didn’t want to be on. Fear reminds me that sometimes I need to be ok with just not knowing… with allowing life to unfold in it’s own time and to take the wheel when I am ready. Fear begets courage. Always.
And I know that if that day ever comes, we already had this conversation. I will be waiting…
I will be prepared…
And I will not worry about it until it happens.
Because I am sure…
It is not THIS day.
