Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Tomorrow Never Comes....Part 2

Today is a very sad day for those who knew and loved Mr. J. D. Phillips. He is being laid to rest today after 77 years of making this old world a better place to be in. It can never be counted accurately the number of people that JD touched and influenced while he was here among us. He did many things but his passion was flying and that is what he did for most of his adult life. And he shared that passion with a lot of us who were fortunate enough to spend some time with him in the sky. There are several entries in my log book with his signature, the first one in 1981 and the last one in March, 2010. He not only taught us, but he also encouraged, inspired, and just plain ole made us smile. He will be missed.
JD’s passing has made me do a little rethinking about the last few weeks and the frustrations I expressed in “Tomorrow Never Comes.” It occurs to me today that maybe we spend way too much time thinking about tomorrow or yesterday. There is a whole lot of stuff that we anticipate will happen tomorrow or some other time in the future. And it seems we just can’t wait for that future time to get here that will somehow magically make our lives better and happier. I know we have to plan for the future and all that. But maybe, at least in my case, we should pay a little more attention to “today”. What a wonderful gift we have been given, today, not tomorrow, not yesterday, but today. I think I’m gonna try a little harder to enjoy and appreciate today.
There is a lot of time spent thinking about what happened to us in our past, yesterday or 10 years ago. Time does not seem to matter, especially to a heavy heart. The pain from many years past can be as real as something that happened to us just yesterday. Time does not heal all wounds, it only treats the symptoms that help ease the pain a little… that old wound can be opened up at any time to deal us misery all over again just like it happened yesterday. We spend a lot of time in the past, we can’t help it, it is part of us and always will be. We try to deal with it as best we can. The gift of today can help us do that if we will just allow it.
For most of us, tomorrow will come in due time. It may or may not bring us that better job or better house or car or whatever is in our head at the moment that we are waiting for. But it will come. Be patient. And while waiting…..let’s celebrate today! How do we do that? For me, I think it is a simple matter of trying to live more in the moment. I have those old wounds like everyone else and I have anticipations, hope, and worries for tomorrow and the future. But I think, just maybe, if I consume myself with today, it will leave little of my precious time for thinking about what happened in the past or what may or may not happen tomorrow. There is a good reason to do this. For JD and lots of other good folks, the worry of tomorrow is over. There is truly no tomorrow for them, at least not in this time and space we live in. That is why today is so important for those of us who have been given the gift of it.
Today is a good day to be happy, even among the sadness of present or past heartaches. Today is a good day to tell those close to you how much you love and cherish them. Today is a good day to tell a stranger hello or extend a helping hand to someone in need of it. Today is a good day to smile, just because. Today is a good day to be thankful, for all the moments in your life, and especially those that are unfolding right now that are contained in the little box of today. Today is a good day to be happy for all the days you have had so far, good or not so good.
For those who have lost loved ones, this is not easy and I am sorry for your loss. The pain you are feeling is real and in no way do I mean to diminish that. But just try for a moment, just today, celebrate their life and their love. Let their overwhelming legacy be the happiness their lives brought into your life, not to be overshadowed by the pain of their loss. Do this just for today, because you have been given of it. If in fact “Tomorrow Never Comes” we will have at least earned all of our “todays”.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thanks neighbor for "Tomorrow Never Comes...Pt 2". That confirms my common
response when checked out at any store
when they say "Have a good day." My normal resonse is "Got one. I woke up this morning." I sometimes add, "The
advantage of being an old man; when I wake up each morning, I've got a good day." Gary