Today Is a Gift
Do you ever feel that time is slipping by, just like how water slips through your hands? You can try to hold both hands as tight as possible, fingers as close as possible, seemingly creating a container to hold the water still, only to have droplets of water undeniably slip through the gaps of your tightly knitted fingers. These days as I go about my daily life, showering, washing my hands, washing the dishes, I can’t help but notice how water seeps through the gaps of our fingers, akin to how time just slips us by.
I remember the end of my A’levels. It was late November, an hour for the last paper for me and my classmates. Many of us were excited pre-paper but had to calm down to get ourselves mentally prepared for the paper (not to let the excitement get to our heads). When the clock ticked to the last second and the teacher said “Pens down,” there were many sighs of relief. The bubbles of my classmates’ excitement could almost be felt in the atmosphere. Restless hands, restless feet, waiting for the teacher to be done collecting all of our papers and say “You’re dismissed.” As soon as that happened, contained screams of joy could be heard from the corners of the hall. Not everyone had that same joy, of course. Some were having their last paper the day after us. But as far as my class was concerned, we were done! Clatters and chatters of noises could be heard, many sharing with one another their holiday plans. Some were even leaving the country for a vacation abroad the next day.
Fast forward to early July 2016, today. About seven had months passed by in a blink of an eye. It was like time made us take a bullet train through life and here we are today, enjoying the last snippets of our break before the next chapter of our lives begin.
I was reading this article by Jon Westernberg, Are you waiting for your real life to begin?, and questioned myself “Am I?”
Some days when life is just mundane and routine, I wonder if my real life has actually begun. In my imagination, my real life would be something big, something massive, just as how it is like in the movies — that I would feel a gush of emotions, then like waves after waves, excitement, happiness, joy. Perhaps to describe it in a phrase: something special, or something extraordinary. Day after day, I was always looking forward to the next event, the next day, or the plans next week. It is always an anticipation of what’s next. When it comes, I find myself a little preoccupied with thinking about the next event instead of enjoying the moment, so much so that when I look back, those special moments became a fond memory in my mind, seemingly a scene I did not take part in. The event is over. We’re moving on to the next sunrise, the next breath of fresh air.
I would like to encourage you, and at the same time encourage and remind myself, to not let time slip by. Enjoy every day — every moment — dull or exciting, every companionship, every friendship, every relationship, every challenge, every triumph — savour it, appreciate the little things in life. Take the effort to strike a smile at a stranger (not creepily), or help someone in need. Perhaps a little helping hand to lift something up, or simple greetings and salutations will do the trick. Appreciate the little we do every day, for they are all achievements and part of our lives, our real lives. This is the real life.
To quote Jon Westernberg, who quoted Douglas Coupland, “When you’re young, you always feel that life hasn’t yet begun — that ‘life’ is always scheduled to begin next week, next month, next year, after the holidays — whenever. But then suddenly you’re old and the scheduled life didn’t arrive. You find yourself asking, ‘Well then, exactly what was it I was having — that interlude — the scrambly madness — all that time I had before?’”
Are you going to let time slip you by like water sipping through your hands till it’s dry, and time is no longer on your side? Or would it be a more enjoyable experience to savour every moment — big or small — today, right now, and treasure every bit of it? Would you want to look back, only to ask what exactly you were having, or would you rather look back to know exactly what you were having?
Alice Morse Earle wrote, “The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no man. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it is called the present.”
Today is truly a gift. Enjoy today, my dear. Enjoy the wonderful flavours of life has to offer you today. Dreams, ambitions, aspirations — they are all good. Just don’t forget to enjoy the present journey, for they are all part of it. Today is part of that big dream of yours.
To end of this post, I present you with a photo (above) of an adorable puffball — a sleeping Koala! I hope its snuggly loveliness will bring a smile to your face and ignite a fuzzy spark in your heart. Have a good day!
