Today’s the day. It’s the best day ever. It’s the only day I have. Yesterday’s gone and there’s never a guarantee that I will see tomorrow. Life’s uncertain, but I do have today.

It doesn’t matter who we are or where we are, this is it. That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t plan as though I am going to be around a long, long time. That doesn’t minimize the emotional or physical pain I (or anyone) might be feeling right now. That doesn’t mean that life isn’t often very difficult. It does mean that this is all I have on planet Earth so I better enjoy it.

Easier said than done. It’s easier to be stuck in my ruts. Easier to be grumpy even when things are going well than happy even when they aren’t. Pain seems forever and happiness often seems temporary and fleeting. Pain and misery find us but we have to go looking for joy. Or is that a lie? Is joy all around us just waiting to be seen?

Some people look like every day is Monday. They frown, fuss, and drag themselves along whining about everything that’s wrong. What would life be like if every day I had the vibrant energy that people seem to get on Friday? Monday and Friday are just names on the calendar – a day’s just a day, so why not bring the fun and enthusiasm of Friday into every day? Enjoy every day? That’s not happy sunshine blind optimism, that’s reality. Today’s it.

Picasso said, “Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.” I have decisions I need to make, actions, hopes, and dreams that I want to accomplish, relationships I want to strengthen or build. If we’re going to make it happen, today’s the day. If today’s the only day I have, it might as well be great.

Today’s a great day to be alive.