Saturday, April 6, 2013

It's All Yours


"I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today.  
I can choose which it shall be.  Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet.  
I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it."  
--Groucho Marx


Sometimes I wake up and realize I get a fresh start.  A brand new day.  No old news.  No shadows.  No expectations.  Just a beautiful new day and it's all mine.  My one and only.

When I wake up like this, I view my world through a different lens.  Even the radio blaring away seems  new.  I contemplate the morning routines that I never think about.  I change it up.  Even if my regular daily obligations are still the same, when I am like this, it is all up for negotiation.  

I ask myself...do I want to spend my day this way?  Do I want to go through these same motions?  Do I enjoy the view?  The soundtrack?  The characters in my story? Who's the villain?  Who's the hero?  Who is the mysterious stranger in the background that I never noticed?  What is the action or reaction that might change the entire trajectory of the day?

It's heady to think this way.  It's transformational.  It's all yours.

Sometimes we are in a spiral, chasing our tails.  Whenever I watch Buddy doing this, I always smile.  I think of it as a movie preview that God has just whispered to me.  What am I chasing that is already within my grasp if I would only stop and notice or view from a different vantage point?  Why am I chasing anything?  How can I simply flow like the river...using the stones in my way to make larger ripples...more beauty...better sound?  How can I act like water...expanding and contracting as needed? 

I marvel at the opportunity a new day brings.  Strangers crossing my path, old friends, family, and the regulars.  You know them.  They're the dry cleaning the lady, the mailman, the neighbor who always walks her dog the same time you do, the guy who always checks out your groceries at the market.  These are the background notes to your symphony.  How quiet it would seem without them there...but do I ever stop to truly see them? To cherish our paths crossing? To hear their unique and vibrant notes that they bring to my daily song? I do, on days like this.

So...today is all yours.  Your one and only 4.6.13.  My one and only one too.  I'm going to cherish it.  Savor it.  Listen to great music. Dance. Love. Get curious and snuggle.  Those are my priorities.
I can change them up tomorrow -- add a few, subtract a few.
That's the beauty of today and I'm grateful for it.

1 comment:

  1. My dear friend. I have not been caught up on reading all your beautiful writing, but your perspective takes my breath away. I love the idea that each day we get a new, clean slate. Sometimes it is so easy to get caught up in the stickyness of everything, that it's really nice to notice how we start over each new day. I hope you have a wonderful day, today, and I hope we get to see each other soon!

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