One Day Leads To Another
I have learned over the years to temper my expectations about what can actually be accomplished in a single day. I’m not proud of this—I would be far happier if I could tell you that after consistently exceeding my own expectations of productivity I’ve had to adjust them in the other direction. The days are quick, though, and before I know it the morning is almost over and then after lunch the hours fly and it’s evening and I should really get to bed or I’ll be cross in the morning with my sleep-stealing self. I would love to do great things and see great progress today, but it’s hard to fit all those big, shiny things into one little square on the calendar.
Then again, what is there, in all this great big world God made for us, that contains itself to a single day? Very little, as far as I can tell. I see the roses blooming in our garden today, but I also saw them waiting patiently through the long months of winter looking almost dead the whole time and then slowly sprouting again and growing grow bit by little bit throughout the weeks of spring. Even now the sweet-smelling blooms bud and open themselves over the course of many days, not one. Perhaps the problem is not the length of the days, but my own failure to see how connected they are to each other.
One day leads to another. It’s obvious, I know, but it’s true, and I need to remember it. One day adds its few, short hours to the foundation of the next, slightly changing the starting point for the following morning. And there’s power in that, if I remember to leverage it. Tomorrow’s reality will be shaped by today’s actions and choices, for good or bad. If I continue on the same course in the days that follow, the results can increase at compound interest, for good or bad. A decision to eat well and exercise (even a little) today could compound into growing strength and health and habits that grant me extra years, or even decades, of life. A decision to doom scroll tonight instead of reading some mind-expanding book will not only affect the way I see the world and think about it, it will probably also make it just that little bit harder to pick the book up again tomorrow. A choice to begin the day with God in prayer and in his word can re-make my attitude and my perspective, my purpose and joy and peace and confidence for the whole day—and make it that little bit easier to do it again tomorrow, as well. A decision to tackle the hardest job now will free me from living under the stress of it tomorrow, and build my fortitude to tackle whatever comes next. A choice to save a small amount of money today could set me on a course towards a completely different financial situation down the road. A choice to hold on to resentment and keep rolling thoughts of anger and bitterness around in my head today can literally re-wire my brain like the ruts in a dirt road that catch the wheels of thought easily and won’t let them go without a struggle. On the other hand, a determined decision to give myself in love and service, even in small ways, for others right now could help improve their situations as well as strengthening, bit by bit, my relationships with them, and my own character, as well.
Today matters. It may be short, and the reality of what I can accomplish in it might feel small, but one day leads to another. And another. Every action, every decision, no matter how insignificant they may seem, is leading me forward, or backwards. Journeys are made of many individual steps, and lifetimes are made of many individual days. Each one takes me from where I was yesterday to where I will be tomorrow. And where will I be, tomorrow?
