Carpe Diem

You know that day…the one where you think about all those little things that you think you’ll never get done, but somehow you manage far more of them than you ever thought you would?  And then you got the date of your doctor’s appointment wrong, and your boyfriend’s Dad and his wife came back to their house you’ve been house-sitting for them?  And then you had a huge dinner for “the pizza night crew,” and it was messy, and full of laughter, smiles, good food, good company, and good drinks?  And then you took a walk with the one you love, and came back to find that cursor blinking at you—urging you to write something profound?

Well, …that was my day today.  It was a great day—a busy day, but a great day just the same.  And I’m not sure if I did all the right things, and I’m not sure if I said all the right things, and even though everything was really good, … somehow I’m still worried that I’ll mess all the good stuff up.  I mean, it’s bound to happen.  Right?

You can’t have “the perfect day” for the rest of your life.  You’re going to mess up.  You’re going to eat that extra piece of pizza.  You’re going to want to just sleep in until noon.  You’re going to forget something, and undoubtedly, you’re going to blame yourself for those things you didn’t do but thought you should have.

And yet, …holding on to all of that negative “stuff” isn’t good for you.  You have to learn to let it go—to find peace with the person you are instead of lamenting about the person you aren’t.  You need to focus on what’s really important to you, and then…just do your best.  And if someone does something to upset you, let them know.  Nine times out of ten, most people won’t have a clue about something that might be eating away at you and making you (and not them) unhappy.

Of course, if you’re doing all of that already, then you probably are having the perfect day every day.  I’ve been trying to do that—little things here and there.  But I’m not perfect, and I’m pretty okay with that, because my boyfriend loves me, the people that I love know it, and the joy we bring each other (as well as weathering the storms together) is worth letting everything else go to hell.

So don’t sweat the little things; those moments you spend in fear and pain over things you can’t change aren’t worth the time nor the effort.  Seek happiness, instead, and perfection will find you—even when you inevitably mess up, make a mistake, forget something “important,” or lose your marbles, temper, or keys.

Each moment is a chance to do better than the one before, and though the battles may sometimes be lost, there’s always hope for a better day just around the corner.  You just have to be willing to see it.