It’s A New Day

There is nothing but potential today. There are 364 glorious days ahead of us in 2009, and each is simply brimming with the promise of so many wonderful possibilities. There is nothing but hope.

This lasts for a time. Everything feels new and fresh. We stick to our promises, keep our goals in sight, and remember what motivated us to make this year the best year yet.

Then, the grind begins. What we label “reality” sets in. We forget about ourselves and the things we told ourselves we would do just for us. This year was going to be different. But it turns out not to be so different.

It doesn’t have to play out like that. This year really CAN be different. The difference starts in recognizing that today isn’t any different than yesterday. Sure, the label has changed: 2008 has become 2009. That label, though, is meaningless. It is arbitrary. It does nothing for us. The Earth is not affected by it. Our circadian rhythms aren’t affected by it. The label is wholly a construct of the human mind, put in place simply to allow us to go about the business of neatly categorizing the Universe around us. That’s what we do. We categorize to help us feel grounded in the Universe. So, like I said, today is no different than yesterday.

If that’s the case, then it stands to reason that the optimism that we feel today should be with us again tomorrow. Tomorrow and the day after that. And the day after that. And the day after that. Each day. Every day for the rest of our lives. So what if the label has changed? Who cares that it’s 2009? What matters is the realization that is it TODAY and that TODAY is all we have in this moment. Yesterday already came and went. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. What exists is today, right here, right now. Everything that I think will be better tomorrow, everything I think I will do better tomorrow, can happen today. It should happen today. It can ONLY happen today.

Hope can only live in the moment. You cannot promise yourself that you will have hope tomorrow. That is utterly ridiculous. True hope…hope for peace and love and compassion…can only be created by you right now. In this moment, we create reality. Tomorrow…well, that’s another construct of the human mind. Focus on today. Focus on the moment. Focus on hope and peace and love and whatever else it is that you feel the world needs from you.

There is nothing but potential in this moment. Feel it. Tap it. Release it. Here’s to hoping that I can sustain this clarity as time goes on. Here’s to hoping that you can, too.