One Day at a Time

It seems as though today's world lives life at a fast pace or in fast forward all the time. Even though I do not like to be on the go 24/7, it always seems as though I am. It seems as if things never slow down. I constantly find myself saying "when this is over" or "that is over", things will slow down. The slowdown time I crave never seems to happen as much as I would like it to. Now I know this is more self inflicted than not. I have trouble saying the word "NO" sometimes to people or tasks that need to be done.

But with my philosophy in life about everything happens for a reason, I should know when to slow down or take a step back at times. I am learning that more and more as time passes. I am learning to slow down and live life to the fullest in the current moment. I am learning to stop planning the next 10 years of my life and where and when I'm going to end up in the future. Many of us are guilty of this exact same problem. Things are going good and we are on top of the world and then BAM. Something happens and our world we had planned or direction in life changes. Then what?

When I have had change occur in my life, I look back on the experience I had and chalk it up to good memories and lessons learned. I have learned something from every situation that has happened to me, whether it was good or bad. I am able to take any situation in my life and see the positive, even in the darkest of times. That would be called being optimistic. If more people would be optimistic in this world, this world would be a much better place then it is today. Today's society is so busy with the hustle and bustle of all the tasks we need to get done each and every day, that we tend to forget the important things in life.

I recently met a couple who came in to my office. They have been married 46 years and the woman found out in the last year or two that she had cancer. She was very positive and her story was very inspiring to hear. She decided the wasn't going to let it get her down and she was going to beat the cancer, no matter what it took. She explained how her faith in God had grown tremendously and how she had been a positive influence to others during her turmoil. She was strong not only for herself, but for others near and dear to her. One of her expressions was that her family members were supposed to be there to support her, but that she had actually give her family members support for what she was going through. Kind of ironic if you think about it. She is the one battling cancer and she holds up her loved ones so they can deal with what she is going through. I was so in awe of her story and her outlook on life. I have talked to her husband a couple times since and he said she was been in positive spirits, even though she had surgery a few days ago. She is very independent and has had to learn to let others help her. This lady's personality sounds so much like mine and I believe that is why I was so drawn to her. I prayed for her and have continued to pray for her each day since I met her. Even though she has no idea, she made quite an impact on my life and the way I have been going non-stop lately.

I have taken time to slow down just a little bit. I have spent more time with loved ones, my kids, friends and doing things I enjoy. I have spent extra time on the little things in life that I normally skip over because I don't have time. Time is what we make of it really. We all have the same amount of time in a given day ~ 24 hours, no more and no less. It's up to us as an individual what we so with that time and how we spend it.

So my vow to myself is to stay at a slow and steady pace as life progresses. I want to make the most of the time I am given everyday. I want to make memories that last a life time. I am no longer trying to plan every second of the future. I will plan for today, and maybe for tomorrow but not the remainder of my life. One day at time ~ that has been my slogan I have said to myself and others so many times this year.

Life is uncertain and none of us know what will happen in the future. It's part of the roller coaster ride of life. You have two choices in this world ~
1) you can sit back and let life pass you by and watch it roll or
2) you can grab on and embrace every second given to you by God above, live life to the fullest and make the most of what you have.

I choose to live life to the fullest and embrace each day as another blessing given to me. For now I will live one day at at time and wait for a sign from God where I am supposed to be next in this world. We never know exactly what journey will venture into our lives. We just have to ride the wave and pray God shows us where He wants us to be in life. Don't try to make your own judgement call in this world. Only one person knows the plan for our life and it's when we ask him for direction, we shall receive an answer. Often times that answer does not come right away so until then, live life one day a time and enjoy the ride while it lasts!