Make Every Day Count

  THE DAWN of a new year is an ideal time to establish the resolution to make every day count. Consider this experience of part time pizza deliverer Hong Fei Li who had a day he would never forget. One of the orders that day was to deliver two pizzas to a nearby church. He walked away with an $820 dollar tip! Associate minister Phil Camden placed the order via speaker phone during an evening service and then asked the 900 members present to “give the delivery guy the biggest tip he’s ever had.” Collection bags were passed from hand to hand and, upon arrival, the 21-year-old student was handed two heavy bags full of money. A very grateful Mr Li remarked that it was a great day and a delivery he would never forget.

  Although that dramatic act certainly made the day memorable for the driver, for the associate pastor and all those who were present that evening, the extraordinary is not a prerequisite for having a good day. In fact, too many people squander their days because they merely aim to get through them rather than act in ways which will help them make the most of their days. They do not share the enthusiasm of the Psalmist, who wrote, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24).

  Like the Psalmist, philosopher Paul Kurtz rightly notes, “Life pulsates with so many pregnant possibilities for good that it should not be wasted… Every moment of each day counts. Our best recourse is to live life with intensity and exhilaration – in thought, experience, action and deed.” Here are some ways to make every day count.



Move on

 

  This is Biblical advice. The apostle Paul writes, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on.” (Philippians 3:13) True, nothing can cast more gloom over our days than failure. Yet, every life has its ups and downs. When you make a mistake or experience a failure, learn the lesson using it to establish a new chapter in your life. Don’t get bogged down with regrets. That is a lesson imparted by Wally Amos who established the gourmet cookie line Famous Amos in 1975. By 1989 at age 53, financial problems caused him to loose his company. Today he says, “Whatever happens, learn from it and move on. Too often, we wish we had handled things differently. We start replaying in our heads all the things we should have done. Until you accept what has happened and move beyond it, you can’t make things different.” Wally Amos followed this advice and moved forward, becoming a professional inspirational speaker making $10,000 per speech. In addition, he has authored five books. The lesson: don’t let a failure, a mistake, a setback, ruin your day and your life.



Get physical

 

  Consider these words from Frank Pittman III, MD., a psychiatrist and author, “Exercise is the most overlooked secret of happiness. Exercise produces neurotransmitters such as serotonin and norepinephrine that enable us to be happy. Exercise also makes us proud of our bodies, proud of how we look and feel, proud of what we can do.” Dr Pittman’s insight is reinforced via the experience of grocery story manager Joey Cosco, “I regret letting myself get so fat and out of shape that it took a heart attack to wake me up. Now that I’m exercising and eating smarter, life seems so much richer and more enjoyable. I can’t believe what I was missing. I’d been dead for years without realizing it.”



Express gratitude

 

  An advice columnist recently received a letter from a reader who wrote, “Two former teachers made an incredible impact on my life. Both encouraged me to stretch far beyond what I thought possible for myself. They pushed and nudged me, praising my efforts in pursuing my dreams. I promised myself I’d contact them ‘one day’ to let them know how much they influenced my life.”

  After many years, the reader finally contacted his old high school to see if he could locate those two teachers. To his dismay, the man learned that one had been killed in a car accident a year earlier and the other had gone to the hospital in the spring and died there. “I feel terrible. I never had the chance to tell two wonderful people how much they mattered,” he wrote. The man concluded his letter advising other readers to express their gratitude promptly. “Stop right now and make that call. We may never have the chance again,” he says.



Expand yourself

 

  Each day engage in some action which causes your heart to enlarge, your spirit to expand. Be guided by this wisdom from author Paula D’Arcy, “We excuse ourselves from greater efforts. We learn to be good and to treat well those who teat us well. But we don’t give ourselves over to that which demands not goodness, but greatness.” A golden opportunity for growth appears whenever we are facing two options. It is the difficult choice which offers more growth. There is always less expansion and growth when we choose security and routine. As life unfolds, be open for those unique opportunities to expand yourself.



Focus on the positive

 

  Negative thinkers are chronically unhappy, less likely to achieve whatever goals they have, and generally create a toxic environment for others in their circle. People with negative attitudes seldom enjoy personal or professional successes. Positive thinkers, on the other hand, enjoy greater satisfaction and success in life. Each day make the choice to think, speak and act positively.

  Stephen J. Cannell was a glowing example of a positive thinker. A television Emmy Award winner, he created more than 38 television shows. However, as a child he struggled in school because of dyslexia.

  “I flunked fourth grade. I was sent to remedial school for a year, rejoining my class in the sixth grade. I was still the worst student. Three years later I flunked ninth grade.” In total, he ended up completing high school two years behind his original class. In spite of his reading and writing challenges, under his picture in the high school yearbook, where it stated ‘ambition’ Cannell, the ultimate positive thinker, wrote ‘author’. Attending the University of Oregon, he graduated with a 2.1 grade point average, but enjoyed the writing classes. “My English professor told me never to stop writing and I took that to heart.”

  To earn money, Cannell worked as a furniture truck driver. He would get home from work at 5:30 pm and would write until 10:00. Then, he wrote all weekend. “I did that for five years. And for five years I failed to get anyone to read what I wrote, but I just kept writing.”

  Finally, he sold a television script for a police show. “From then on, I was in,” he says. Had Cannell been prone to negative thinking, he would have given up on his dream of writing. The fact that he maintained a positive attitude toward himself and his future is what propelled him into life success and satisfaction.



Be alert

 

  Too many people simply drift through life unaware of events and forces which impact their living. That’s why the Bible stresses the importance of paying attention, being alert and remaining awake. Jesus commands, “Be alert!” (Matthew 13:33) And Paul writes, “Let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert.” (1 Thessalonians 4:6) The British mystic, Evelyn Undherhill wrote, “For lack of attention, a thousand forms of loveliness elude us every day.” Every day be on the alert. Notice the colleague who treats others with compassion. Notice the child who reaches out to another with kindness. Notice the couple who treat each other with continuous courtesy and respect. Pay attention to the many subtle lessons which life constantly sends our way. By so doing, you will discover you are living in the midst of a ‘thousand forms of loveliness’ every day.



Stop judging others

 

  Judgmental attitudes and loving attitudes are mutually exclusive. In order to have a loving relationship with those around you, judging must be suspended. “Approach everyone you meet as an individual with dignity and a life as complicated and mysterious as your own,” writes Leo Buscaglia in his book Born For Love. “Discard preconceptions and suspend, even for a moment, the idea that you ‘know this type’.”



Keep learning

 

  The future belongs to the learner, not the learned. Keep expanding your mind and continue exploring knowledge. Peter Drucker was a highly acclaimed authority on leadership, management and business issues. Although he had an enormous knowledge base, Drucker continued to read and learn even into his 90th decade. Interviewed when he was 95, Drucker was asked about what he was reading and what new insights he was gaining. His response reflects a man constantly engaged in learning: “I always read a little in the Bible – mostly either the Psalms or the Epistles of St. Paul. Just now I have begun re-reading the Epistles and find them very exciting and full of insights earlier readings didn’t reveal. Otherwise, I just read some Balzac and, with great enjoyment, Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago – a powerful book. I also recently, a month or two ago, re-read Dickens’ Little Dorrit. I always read something new in these re-readings. And I always read a lot of magazines.”



                                                           ⇔

 

  Finally, remember that the quality of life is always determined by daily practices. Don’t make the mistake of taking for granted the gift of each day. Utilize each day for the greatest good of yourself and for others. Make every day count!