Day-to-day living is tough. It involves dealing with a whole host of not-so-pleasant stuff – cleaning up, doing the dishes, more cleaning up, dealing with the mood swings of a tough boss, client, friend or family member, annoyances like a flat tire when you least need it, and doing your taxes. There always seem to be many more failed projects than successful ones and more uninspiring, mediocre days than you signed up for.
No, it isn’t anywhere near as glamorous as in the movies. Nor is it as glamorous as those folks profiled in today’s business news paper – you don’t feel like you’re stepping in to work changing the world. You’re just crunching a spreadsheet or working on some seemingly meaningless report. Lady luck doesn’t seem to spend much time by your side. And as far as building careers, relationships, and families go, they are hard, too. .
For most of the time, they don’t seem to be heading anywhere.. until they do.
Doing the right thing every day isn’t easy. If anything, staying honest and true to yourself never seems to pay off in the short term. You don’t realize the value of a relationship until 20 years later. And you don’t realize the value of all those times you pushed yourself to go to the gym until you get a clean bill of health from your doctor when you’re 65. These are long timelines.
The good thing, however, is that as long as you don’t pay lip service to the things that actually matter to you (nobody can save you if do that…), things will fall into place in the long run. You won’t get everything you want but you will get more than what you need. The ups and downs will never go away; they’re just part of day-to-day living. We just have to make sure that, despite the trials and tribulations, we continue to dream, love, give, plant saplings, and make ourselves and the world a bit better every day. In the final analysis, the only thing that will matter is whether you have stayed true to yourself and if you’ve actually delivered on the things you care about.
You are also really lucky. There are millions out there who would kill to have the sorts of opportunities and choices you have. Make it count… and don’t let day-to-day living get in the way of building a life.
A Learning a Day 