I Can’t Buy Tomorrow…
Tomorrow is promised to no one.
We’ve all heard this saying a million times but as I sit here writing this at 4 am in the morning on May 14th 2020 I am finally letting that statement sink in. In a few months, 2020 became a year we could never fathom nor will we forget. We are all in the midst of a global event that hasn’t been witnessed in decades, a pandemic. It continually dawns on me that regardless if you are rich, poor, black, or white, you cannot buy tomorrow. Tomorrow is not bestowed or promised to anyone on this planet. There are no guarantees you’ll live past tomorrow. And I don’t mean to be grim but read on so I can offer some perspective.
At a very young age, I mastered the art of not living in the past. I very seldom dwell on what has happened and have learned to easily let go of the past, no matter the circumstances.
On the other hand, I’m also a very optimistic person, and the future is important to me. I often think about my future and the future of my family. It is the reason I work hard to make sure they are taken care of. But with this on-going pandemic, I am realizing I have never lived in the NOW.
The past is gone, tomorrow is not promised so it’s imperative I learn to live in the now. So I’ve come up with a few ways to live in the moment and cherish the now because tomorrow is not promised.
Highlight journal:
At the end of each day I am going to write a journal entry focusing on what made my day special. It can be something simple like discovering a new restaurant or reading an amazing article so great I share with my friends or reach out to old friends and have a conversation since I rarely catch social media updates.
Discover new music daily:
Whether it is one song or a new album I’ve never listened to, I plan on listening to music with an open ear. I miss the days when I could just get lost in new music with my best friend Ronald. Those memories remind me of the excitement of the moment, the moment of hearing new music that could change our lives. It reminds me of what it means to be in the now. I hope this allows me to continue my deep exploration of different genres of music.
Play dolls with Safari:
My daughter is seven years old, and of course always wants to play dolls with me. Some of the time she wants to play dolls, I'm either busy, moving around too much, or trying to ignore her request because she’s bossy with the doll storylines. (It’s hard to keep up with the storylines and the characters). But I need to carve out time to explore her imagination with her. I want to remind her it’s great she travels to the moon, and to Disney, and saves the world all in one day. Those are her now moments, and I want to make sure I share in those lasting moments and memories she has now.
In conclusion, living in the now is not the easiest task to undertake. I know for a fact that I can’t buy tomorrow so I have to actively practice living in the NOW. As an adult I’ve built my entire existence on building for the future; while this is great, my future is not guaranteed and I don’t want to miss out on the special moments.
These past few months have taught me that everything can be taken away in a flash. The coronavirus shut down is a reminder this is our now and it will be a while before the world recovers. My advice is to create your own blueprint and learn to live in the now because we are seeing every day that tomorrow is not promised.