This is it. Today is my last day on this earth.

Unless it’s not.

Should I live like it’s my last day on earth? Or should I live like I have many more years ahead of me?

I think the answer is “both.”

I should live today like it’s the only day I have. People who know me well may be tired of hearing me say it, but today is literally the only day we have. Yesterday is over, done, gone. It can’t be revisited and cannot be altered. Tomorrow has not arrived yet. I can’t live it yet, so to worry unnecessarily about it is pointless. I have today, this day, this moment, and so it absolutely must be the moment that concerns me. Otherwise, I have wasted it.

I should also live today like it is not the only one I have left — I need to wisely plan for tomorrow, and the days ahead. It would be foolish for me to waste my resources today, having wrongly anticipated that the next day would not come.

True, as a concept, “tomorrow” never arrives. “Free crabs tomorrow” was a sign at one of my favorite Louisiana restaurants. They never had to deliver on that promise because every day the free crabs could be requested, all they had to do was point to the sign and say it was for “tomorrow.”

But the day after this one is likely to come, just based on prior evidence of days sequentially following another. 

So I should learn from yesterday — build on the good decisions, address the bad ones, change tactics or keep on keeping on. I should wisely plan for the days ahead, budgeting money, time and resources, and planning for upcoming events. 

It also makes sense to look forward to things yet to come — like the graduations of two of my daughters on the same weekend in less than three weeks, one from high school and the other from college, and getting to visit with the rest of my children all in one place for the first time in a very long time. 

We have planned lodging, travel, time off from work, gifts, etc. But I haven’t packed my bag yet. One of the reasons for that is I like to brush my teeth at least once daily. If I pack my toothbrush now, it’s a bit premature and everyone around me will suffer because of it. 

There are some things that cannot be done (or shouldn’t be done) until “the time arrives,” and waiting is therefore prudent. There are others that should be done ahead of time (like reserving a hotel room in a small town when lots of people may be coming in for the same weekend for the same reasons) and therefore it is not prudent to wait.

Do what needs to be done today and don’t be unnecessarily concerned about the rest. Can you and should you address something already past? Then do so today. Can you and should you address something upcoming? Then do so today. Should you wait on either? Then do so.

Make today count, either way.

 

News editor Brett Campbell can be reached at brett.campbell@dailyleader.com.