The Challenge for Today
by Nancy Van Pelt
A psychologist once surveyed some 3,000 people picked at random from a telephone directory. The survey was brief. It asked, “What have you got to live for?” More than 90 percent of the respondents stated that they were waiting. Waiting for their marriage to improve, for their children to grow up, or to become grandparents. They were waiting to retire and gain more leisure time. They were waiting for next year, or a dreamed-about tour of Europe. They were waiting for something exciting to happen. They were giving up today, waiting for the promise tomorrow held. These people failed to realize that today is the tomorrow they waited for yesterday!
It’s a pity that we endure the present while waiting for some future event that may or may not ever happen. Each day is short, each hour flies by, each minute can be filled with life and something enjoyable. Today is here only once and will never return.
Are you enjoying today? Today you have been given a fresh beginning. Today you can open your eyes and find a new world. This world is yours. Enjoy every moment of today; it will soon be gone. Thank God for this new beginning!
Greet today with a smile. Make up your mind to be agreeable. Breath in the fresh, cool air and revel in the rays of sunshine. Beauty is God’s therapy for the ugly side of life. Fear, anxiety, depression, and worry can be overcome with an appreciation of beauty.
Today is here. Don’t think of what you would do if only things were different. Things are not different. They are what they are. This is the home you live in, and these are your circumstances. Make the best of what you have.
Instead of dreaming of what you’d do if you had the time, take time to make something happen. Dream, if you will, but work to make your dream come true. Do the things you should be doing, and stop doing the things you should not be doing.
Stop the food of alibis. Stop saying“If I only had the time, I’d . . .” You’ll never find time to do everything. Pick on thing you want to do, and do it.
Today is here, and it is yours. Act toward God and others as if today were your last day on earth. Life doesn’t begin (or end) at 40 or 50; life begins when you take charge of your attitude and begin enjoying what you have.
Only you can choose what you will do with your time and your life. Time can be your ally or your enemy. But your choices today determine your quality of life tomorrow. If you want freedom and happiness, you must fight for it today. It’s only if you have your life and your home under control that you can truly make life happier for yourself and those around you.
Now is the time to make the hard choices necessary to accomplish this. The greatest gift you can give the people you love is you. Now is the time to develop high-quality relationships. Time must become your ally. Not only will you be a happier person; you will touch the lives of those around you in a positive way.
“What have you got to live for?” Everything! Christ died so that you might live—and live more abundantly. As long as you have breath—choose life, the one you’ve been given today.
I’m cheering you on!
Nancy Van Pelt, a best-selling author, certified life educator, and a certified family and consumer science professional. She has conducted hundreds of seminars around the world. She land her husband, Harry, have three grown children.
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It’s never too late to become what you might have been. George Eliot
The true calling of a Christian is not to do extraordinary things, but to do ordinary things in an extraordinary way. Dean Stanley
Lord, help me find the time to meditate on the most important relationship of all-my relationship with You. Amen. Anonymous