Every morning that I wake up,  I consider it to be a gift, an opportunity for a fresh start.  It’s an opportunity to pick myself up, dust myself off from anything that went wrong yesterday, and start all over again.

Too often, we assume our days will always be the same and consider daily routines to be boring.  But routines are good.  They are a basic structure on which we can create a more interesting day.

My morning routine is always easy.  Get up. Put the dogs out.  Feed them. Make coffee and pour a cup.  Turn on my computer and check for orders and important emails.  And then what?

Then what? is a decision that I get to make every day.  Remembering that today is the first day of the rest of my life provides the motivation to make it count.

Each day provides a chance for me to discover simple, magical moments out of life. Life offers possibilities.

So often we wait for the perfect circumstances to do what we really want. We wait until we “retire,” until we have more money or time.

Do you know anyone who has more time than they used to? We all have the exact same minutes in each and every day.  It’s how we use those minutes that make a difference.

If you’re not enthusiastic about life and the possibilities don’t inspire you, consider a brand new day as a second chance to do something you’ve always wanted to do.

We don’t always get a second chance to do something. Some people never get to reconcile their relationship with a loved one even though they wanted to.  Before they knew it, one of them had run out of time.

If there’s something bothering you, can you resolve it?

But if you didn’t accomplish something today, don’t be discouraged. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but Rome wouldn’t be built if someone didn’t start building it.

You’ll get another chance tomorrow. Well, we usually do, until we don’t.

So always remember that today is the first day of the rest of your life.  There will be a day when we don’t get to say that anymore.

It’s all too easy to feel like there will be time tomorrow, next month, or even next year.  We remain bored and let opportunities and time slip through our fingers.

But no one lives forever.

I hadn’t thought that the time with my husband would end so quickly until it did last November.  I hadn’t considered that we may not spend the rest of our lives together.  After all, we had shared 63 years of it.

But it did end.  And, now it’s up to me to consider how I will spend the rest of my time — however long that may be because today is the first day of the rest of my life.

Some people retire or find themselves in my position only to find they don’t have the health or the financial wherewithal to do what they want.  I’ve been lucky.  I’m way past retirement age and am doing what I love, even though I’m doing it alone.

I consider that each day that I open my eyes and wake up is a wonderful day to celebrate.
Steve Jobs said it well:

“For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every
morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day
of my life, would I want to do  what I am about to do today?’
And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days
in a row, I know I need to change something.”

But, how about you?

What do you really want to do? What are you waiting for?  Someday, when you’re sitting in a rocking chair, what will you wish you had done?

What do you do when you’re already successful, when you already have a meaningful and fulfilling life, but you’re ready to do something different?

How do you figure out what that is? How do you move forward with confidence and courage and EVOLVE your life instead of sticking with what’s known and familiar?

I hope that sometime this week  you’ll sequester yourself somewhere for awhile to think about what lies ahead for you this year.

I used to walk into the forest behind my house and sit under a huge old alligator juniper tree for my thinking time.  Circumstances have made that more difficult.  Now I sit in my comfortable recliner with my dogs asleep at my feet and do my thinking.  I urge you to find or create your very own thinking place and consider:

·                         What do you want more of?
·                         What do you want less of?
·                         What do you want to stop, start, or change?

What is something NEW you want to try you’ve never done before?· What would make this a stellar year, one you look back on fondly because you met someone you wanted to meet, went somewhere you wanted to go, tried something you wanted to try that turned the lights on in your eyes?

The good news is that doing something new doesn’t require a lot of time.  You don’t have to quit your responsibilities cold turkey and embark upon world travels.  You don’t even have to leave home.

NEW can be done a few minutes here, a few minutes there.  As Marcel Proust said, “Real discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes, but in developing new eyes.”

Ask yourself, “What would I be glad I did – even if it failed?” Then do whatever will make this a happy rest of the  year – in the best sense of the word.

        “Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the
same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller,
Michaelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci and Albert
Einstein.” –Life’s Little Instruction Book

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.  It’s up to you — and you alone — what you will do with it.  For me, I plan to make it the best that it can possibly be.  What about you?