The Gift of Time: Why Right Now Matters More Than Tomorrow

Who knows what tomorrow brings?

Well, that is an interesting way to start. Just one sentence, yet it does two things. It brings back thoughts of a song, and it asks a question: What was left undone that needs my attention?

Nope. I have no idea what that may be.

Because, as the song says, the road is long and there are mountains in my way. You can bet I will greet them head first.

Where am I going with this piece? Who knows? It never reveals itself until it lands. I start with one topic, then it shifts, wanders off somewhere, and before long the narrator takes over the keyboard.

There is that train again.

He seems to be in a hurry today. No horn. Maybe because it is daylight. Really, who knows? I have zero idea about railroad laws and policies.

Come to think of it, I don’t know too much about anything.

The world keeps turning and time marches on.

Time.

What a dreadfully wonderful thing.

They say time heals all wounds. Does it?

Maybe biology and gravity have something to do with it. Maybe sutures, antibiotics, steroids, or whatever else is needed deserve a little credit too. Either way, all of those things need time to do their work.

Which came first, time or gravity?

I would think gravity came first, because we need a big room for time so it can provide space for everything else to do its work.

Without time, everything just sits there in a puddle.

How much time?

Who knows?

It is there, and without time, does anything we know as life even exist?

I whine about growing older. I complain that time is passing. But without time, life couldn’t have its moments. There would be no memories building one upon another, shaping us into who we are and who we are becoming.
Regardless of age, if this being is alive, it is still being.

Still growing.

Still shaping.

Maybe time isn’t the great enemy after all.

Maybe time is a hallway whispering, Follow me.

Follow me, and I will introduce you to your wife.

Your children.

Your friends.

Happiness.

But fair warning, there will also be hardship. There will be sadness. There will be rooms you would rather not enter.

Still, time leads us forward.

Memory is simply a place where we can sit down and rest for a moment.

Circling back to where I started:
Who knows what tomorrow brings?

Tomorrow is almost like being seven years old again on Christmas morning. If you haven’t been snooping around, there is excitement in waiting for morning to reveal what is there.

Tomorrow sounds pretty good.

But hang on.

Right now, we are standing inside moments that tomorrow will call memories.

So what did we do with this moment?

For me, sometimes it means checking in on friends.

Do you need anything?

How are you feeling?

How did things go today?

Those things don’t appear spectacular. Nobody is going to write headlines about them. But to someone who is alone, hurting, worried, or even simply wanting someone with whom to share something good, they can mean quite a lot.

So before we give up on today and start waiting for tomorrow, maybe we should pause and ask:

What about today?

What about right now?

I spend time, and yeah, there is that word again.

Time.

I know I am pointing out the obvious. You may even find that aggravating, and now I am wasting time talking about time, so I will move on.

I spend my time trying to pick up the fork and do the part that is mine.

But sometimes the fork I pick up is needed somewhere else.

Sometimes somebody needs to borrow it.

Love thy neighbor.

Love your family.

Love that long-distance friend who may need to hear your voice.

Maybe today matters because of time.

Time is an old friend. It has been with us since we were growing in the womb. It carried us through childhood and into adulthood. It introduced us to people we love. It gave us room to laugh, to hurt, to heal, to change, and to remember.

Time isn’t the enemy.

Maybe I have simply been blaming an old friend for doing exactly what an old friend is supposed to do:
Walking beside me.
Leading me forward.

And every once in a while, allowing me to sit down in memory and rest.

Who knows what tomorrow brings?

I don’t.

But today is already here.

I think I’ll use it.

Tomorrow may bring anything. Today brought this moment. I think I’ll use it.