Fortune Cookie Friday: Cherish the Present
If you are a fan of my Fortune Cookie Friday posts, you will notice that most of them agree with the tiny pastry papers. Well, at least in some way. I do have a tendency to stray off topic occasionally, but don’t we all? This particular fortune is one that I think reads well at first, but needs a little extra something.
Most of us, at one time or another, have thought that if we just had a little more time, or a little more money, that we would be happy. It is an honest mistake. We have bills to pay and chores to do, but those things will always be there. They say the only certainties in life are death and taxes, but trust me, there is always work to do. It also doesn’t help that we have a tendency to desire immediate gratification. Waiting makes us anxious, impatient, or just unhappy.
We should celebrate the things in life that are fleeting. Friends. Family. Love. Peace. These are here today and gone tomorrow. Unfortunately, we are so caught up in our daily affairs that we forget to appreciate them.
I recall waking up one morning thinking of all of the duties I had to complete. I groaned to myself and wished for things to be better. I wasn’t in a bad place, I just didn’t like the thought of all of that work before me.
Then it dawned on me that I should be happy that I was given another day in my life to complete those duties. I don’t have any serious medical conditions, but anything could have happened in the middle of the night. Instead, I took a deep breath, climbed out of bed, and took to my tasks with a better appreciation.
It doesn’t take long for one to find some positive aspect in life, even if it is life itself. When having a bad day, stop and think of something good. If your game was rained out, be happy that you don’t have to water the lawn. When the work is piling up on your desk, be happy that you have a job. When you argue with someone, be happy that you are not alone in this world.
Now, I know it is hard to think of good things when times are at their worst. You may be suffering from losing a loved one, or a terrible breakup. You may even simply be lost, but even in times of great strife, maybe especially then, we need to hang onto any tiny bit of hope that we can find.
[themify_quote]Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present. – Bil Keane, Family Circus[/themify_quote]
Stop and look around. Look at how big our planet is, how vast the sky is. Revel in the colors that your eyes may behold. Listen to the sound of your environment. Consider every booming jackhammer to every whisper of the wind. Smell the air you breathe, the scents that surround you. Inhale the aromas of rainy city streets, to the perfumes of green pastures. Feel your heart beating in your chest. All of these wondrous things are possible because you are here, because you exist.
Bil Keane, the cartoonist and creator of the newspaper comic, The Family Circus, had an interesting way of looking at life. He said, “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.” Maybe we should all remember this when we are feeling down in the dumps.
So, I have to ask you. Do you feel fortunate? Do you feel that there are good things in this world? Do you feel even slightly better? If so, then maybe this fortune was spot on. This is the near future from when you started reading this post. You didn’t have to wait too long to feel good. So, maybe there’s something to that little dessert of destiny after all.
