A time for philosophy...tomorrow or a new year? What about TODAY?

The end of a year is really nothing more than just another day. Today is Saturday, tomorrow is Sunday. The calendar says today is the last day of 2011 and tomorrow will be the first day of 2012. For some reason significance is placed on the changing of a day, the turning of a page, the ending of one and the beginning of another. Lots of people will use the dawning of a new year as a marker to make new resolutions to change who they are or how they act, to do something they haven't been doing, to quit doing something they have been doing, to make themselves better in one way or another. To work out more, to eat less, to be nicer to others, turn a new page and leave behind bad habits formed in the past year or just to find strength in the perceived "new" beginning and make some sort of change. What a wonderful opportunity to find a time to make a change to make yourself into something new or better. The fact that tomorrow is a new YEAR is not really more important than tomorrow is SUNDAY. We are not guaranteed tomorrow, why do we wait for a new "year" to make a change...there are 355 tomorrows in a single year and so many people wait for just this one tomorrow to decide to make a change, after they spend tonight partying with friends, drinking and celebrating, tomorrow seems like a good time for a change.

I guess there is nothing wrong with deciding to do anything that will make yourself better, to improve yourself is some small way. But I keep getting stuck on the fact that a "new year" is the reason for such motivation. Shouldn't we be motivated by the fact that stopping a destructive habit or deciding that to make a change to improve for ourselves or for our spouse is a good thing. Tomorrow is always tomorrow, yesterday is a memory of things that I have already done or neglected to do...today is what we are given to work with. What I choose to do today is the important decision. Just the act of making a decision is enough motivation to create action to improve yourself. Make use of the energy created to make the decision and build it into a force for change. Let the momentum your create by forward progress propel you into greater things. If getting up a little earlier allows you to spend a little more time reading the bible and improving your faith, then get yourself out of bed and take advantage of the day you are given. There a no guarantees that you will be given another tomorrow, let alone another year.

How are you going about spending your days? Do you find yourself continually waiting for tomorrow to make a change, spending today dwelling upon things you know you should change but really don't want to until tomorrow? How productive are your thoughts? Is today just another stretch of hours that you find yourself grinding through, from break to break until you can get home? Do you find people in your life a bother, something to be tolerated? Is everything seeming to pile up on your plate, one problem after another, big or small at home or at work? How do you view each day when you open your eyes after a restless night of "sleep"?

Questions, questions, questions...most without a specific answer, but all with a general feeling of weight upon your spirit. When the details start becoming what you focus on, the big picture gets lost. It's not the problems your are presented with that are the issue, its the solutions that you should be focused on. Most of what each of us are trying to cope with are just the details of the daily grind. Given, these mundane tasks are necessary in today's society, but what is important is HOW we handle our day. Are you full of hope, faith and joy? Do you acknowledge the blessings large and small that your life is full of? When was the last time you picked up the bible in you house and spent any time in the word just reading? The answers are there, God is waiting and forever loving, patient and forgiving! Look to Jesus and you will find the answers to so much more than you ever imagined your where even questioning. This is where I could insert copious amounts of scripture to back up my thoughts and opinions, but if you've stayed with this to this point, I will save you the extra reading. It is all in the bible in whatever version you find palatable, I encourage you to take the effort and start reading today. The bottom line is that with God in your life and Jesus as your savior, today is an opportunity to grab a hold of and make the most of.

You are not guaranteed tomorrow, but you are guaranteed that by accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior that heaven is your reward. The onus then becomes on you to improve yourself, to love your brother as yourself, the scripture is Matthew 22:37-39 "Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself." It's not really more complicated than that! What is so difficult about loving one another? Try to take a little time to step back from situations that cause you to become angry and know that whatever it is, it is a LITTLE thing, its not important, it is a challenge to overcome and the test is not the situation or even the outcome, but HOW YOU HANDLE IT! The amazing thing is when you have a perspective like this, provided by God, knowing that through faith and hope that He provides all things will be taken care of and it will all work out!

I know, I know, problems still come up and they suck! It is hard to not have a job, to have bills you can't pay, to be dealing with problems that you think shouldn't be yours. The reality is that is life. The trials and tribulations are part of the big picture. Life isn't easy, but it is certainly worth living! Things happen and you have to deal with them, choose to handle them with  a positive attitude, asking God for guidance throughout your day, in good times and hard times. Being thankful for what you have and asking for strength times of strife. Now is the only time you have, it's part of today and you need to decide what kind of a day you are going to make. It doesn't help to put it off until tomorrow, because one - tomorrow NEVER comes and two - if your get to wake up in the morning today you have the same problems you had yesterday, but were too lazy to do anything about and you already know how yesterday went...do you want to relive yesterday over and over again!?

Tomorrow is a new year...well in 20 minutes a new calendar year starts...I am so thankful to God for the day He has blessed me with and I pray that I spent the day doing things that pleased God and made someone else's day just a little better! If I am blessed with another TODAY may I wake with a smile and find a way to show my love for my neighbor, do something positive in the lives of the people with whom I cross paths and make an effort to be a better me!  2012 is a new calendar year, today is a day to make a new me!

Thank you for loving me God, may I be a reflection of your love, your light, your passion, your joy, your enthusiasm for today and when troubles come my way I thank you for being there at my side to help guide me through, learning and gaining appreciation for experiences that make me better, make me recognize all of the blessing big and small that each day is filled. I am blessed so that I may be a blessing, Loved so that I may be able to love. Today is a gift to be cherished, I'm not waiting until tomorrow!!!!