When I was younger, I loved those little daily desk calendars. Often, they had quotes, sayings, or comics on them. Each day you could tear off a page and see a new inspirational quote or comic that would incite a giggle. My calendar is on my phone now and I no longer use those day-by-day calendars.
But I saw one the other day and it got me thinking of the passing of each day.
Each time you tear off a page, you throw it in the trash. The stack of days gets thinner. A few calendars allow you to write an agenda on each page. Most are too full of the calendar’s theme to allow note taking or planning. You are left unable to plan or record your day.
But each day the stack of pages grows imperceptibly gaunter.
Did your life grow noticeably more abundant?
Did you plan your day? Did you document all you planned to accomplish, all you dared to achieve, all you hoped to strive toward?
Did you chronicle all you completed, all you practiced, all you won?
Each day is a chance to learn. Each day is a chance to repair a relationship, to right a wrong, to serve another.
I’ve always said we should be human beings, not human doings. But that’s about productivity, not pursuit. What do you pursue each day? Did you chase your passions? Did you get one day closer to realizing them? Each day is an opportunity. Carpe that dammed diem. By the throat.
Don’t throw away one more piece of paper unless it is scribbled with all your scratched off agenda.
As that calendar grows thinner, let your life grow fuller.
No one on their deathbed wishes they spent more time at their job. They won’t wish to regale you in the final score of every football game they ever watched. But they will sure tell you all their greatest memories with friends and family. They will stare misty-eyed into space while they choke on their regrets. They will apologize for every unkind word they’ve ever spoken when they were upset. Their eyes will shine with the spark of one thousand lamps when they talk of their grandchildren or the people they’ve touched in some meaningful way.
Each piece of paper you throw away represents an opportunity to do those good things. To apologize for your mistakes. To mend a friendship. To inspire someone. To learn a new skill or talent.
The end of the year approaches. The calendar is losing girth. Don’t let the clump of glue overlooking the discarded days be the only thing that grew this year.
Do something with the life you’ve been given. Be someone to someone. Your employer will replace you the week you leave that job, but your family and friends will never replace you. Be more to them than to the job you took student loans to land.
This week is Christmas. No matter your opinion of the Christmas / Holidays debate, it still represents a time where for just a short time, we are more than we have been previously this year. We treat people more kindly, go a little easier on folks. I’m not going to get all sappy about that “Christmastime should last all year” fluff. But I am suggesting that each day you tear off your desk calendar is a missed chance to do one small thing for someone. It has been said that you can evaluate a person by how they treat someone who can do nothing for them in return. How they treat a restaurant server, the custodian, whether they hold the door for someone. There’s that quote about how as one person you can’t change the world, but you can change the world for one person; and if you did this every day, how many worlds could you change. Certainly your own.
Do something each day. Walk to the end of the street, then around the block. Help your neighbor. Visit your grandpa in the nursing home and ask him to tell you stories of his youth. Play a few chords on the guitar or piano. Buy a potted plant and feed it.
Don’t let a day go by that you haven’t DONE something. Then those calendar pages won’t seem so blank. And neither will your life.
There will be no Tai Chi until January. Please enjoy the holiday season. Do well and be kind.
I'm available throughout the next two weeks for healing sessions (massage, acupressure, sound/vibration therapy, empowerment coaching). Reach out to me and take your first step into power and control of your life.
Much love to all,
Sifu Weeg