A Toast to Today

“For all sad words of tongue and pen,

The saddest are these, 'It might have been'.”

~John Greenleaf Whittier

(American Writer, 1807-1892) 

My perspective on this is a bit different that what it would have been, say, even yesterday.  I have a habit of looking over my shoulder, not out of any particular worry or fear, but rather, out of a keen curiosity about the "what-ifs" and the "might-have-beens." I've been looking at the past for far too long.  "There is no distance on this earth as far away as yesterday." ~Robert Nathan

"We seem to be going through a period of nostalgia, and everyone seems to think yesterday was better than today. I don't think it was, and I would advise you not to wait ten years before admitting today was great. If you're hung up on nostalgia, pretend today is yesterday and just go out and have one hell of a time." ~Art Buchwald

I think I'll take Mr. Buchwald's advice.  I don't want to be so focused on yesterday that I forget to breathe in the present tense.  I don't want the joys of today to become my "might have beens."  In essence, I want the joys of today to be just that... today's.  "You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present." ~Jan Glidewell

I'm a bit sweet on Oliver Wendell Holmes. His words often speak truths that I otherwise could not.  He is the type of prolific writer I wish I could be.  He once said that apologizing is a very desperate habit, that "apology is egotism wrong side out."  Interesting.  I could apologize to those around me for not being "present in the present," but honestly, is it true remorse if you aren't regretting the motive?  Suffice it to say I've been selfish...and I liked being selfish.  I've just decided it's time to be less so.  (I've always enjoyed a challenge.  Let's see how successful I am at becoming less indulgent.)  I just have to keep telling myself this:  "The only correct actions are those that demand no explanation and no apology." ~Red Auerbach

Today is the best day.  It is the only one promised.  I think I'll celebrate.  Maybe I'll hang a new wreath on my door.  Here's to a new season...
 

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson