Honouring Each Day

by Eugene Loh (taken from Lifewise, Issue 19)

Going by the way some of us live our lives, we don't really think our days are all that important. We rush blindly through them, not savouring the experience, fall into bed exhausted, then wake up the following morning only to repeat the routine. We make mechanical and dutiful contact with our loved ones, saturate our bodies with caffeine, junk food and alcohol, and generally make chains of meaningless moments.

Meaningful moments, when we do try, are few and far between. We blame it on our hectic work schedules, or tenaciously hold on to the notion that there'll always be time for loved ones. Too many people are caught in the trap of "busyness" - that never-ending need to work, to play, to do everything else except the things that truly make life wonderful and meaningful.

When was the last time you truly honoured the day? I mean, really accorded it the respect and significance it deserves? Because the future is an illusion - we all think we have more time, but that isn't true at all. Our lives could end at any time. The only time we really have is the present - it's where we are now. If we can't be happy with who we are, what we have and where we are now, then we're just wasting our time. We might as well be sleepwalking through our days.

Too many of us are waking up in cold sweat thinking,"Where has all the time gone? What have I been doing with my life? Why am I not spending more time showing my wife how much I care about her? Why am I not showing my loved ones more love? How much time do I really have left?"

We're not waking up thinking about jobs, our bosses, getting a fancy haircut, buying a new car, a new bag, and a new anything; these things just don't fulfill our needs!

What we really need is connection. We need to connect more with other human beings; to connect more with nature, to connect more with who we are inside and reflect that on the outside. We need to honour all that the day gives us - the sun, the wind, the hot breakfast, the taxi ride, the smiles, the friendly invitations, our partner's touch, a joke, a laugh, a kiss.

Honouring the day means choosing to make each moment count.