Fresh Start Today 

Greetings, Friends, from the greening Northeast! Looks like Spring has truly sprung! 

Taxes are filed, crocuses are pushing through, and the Red Sox are back at Fenway. It’ll soon be time to bring my bike up from the cellar. If only my job were located along the bike path!

After our rough winter, Spring surprised me. I’d almost given up, and resigned myself to another month of winter, but the Sox came home from Fort Myers, so it must be true.

Some well-intentioned deadlines surprised me too: 

- I should be 15 pounds into my New Year’s resolution to lose weight, but I’m not ... 

- I should have posted monthly blogs for February and March, but i didn’t … 

- I should have a routine in my “new” job that maintains time for girlfriends, rehearsals, and a clean house, but I don’t. 

AARRGGHH!!! 

I was reading an article the other day by Jason Mastrodonato, the Red Sox beat reporter for MassLive, who quoted Sox manager John Farrell. Reflecting on their 2013 season, Farrell said, “... certainly we should enjoy those [reminders of last year] and experience them to the fullest. But the one thing this group has shown time and time again, yesterday doesn’t filter into today, and the work today is the primary focus.”

Yesterday doesn’t filter into today!  Neither our most exciting victories (which are pleasant and encouraging to recall) nor our most heart-breaking defeats filter into today. Happy memories, good intentions, and laurels are nothing to rest on. Neither should regrets and resentment hold us back.

New Year’s resolutions don’t get resolved without action, and one less brownie. 

Monthly blogs don’t get posted without writing, and rewriting.  

Friendships are not maintained and cultivated without investing time, communication, and generosity. 

“The work today is the primary focus”. We don’t live in a world moved forward by ‘I meant to’ or ‘I planned to’. We get things done and make a difference by putting our backs and hearts into it ... deliberately, consciously, every single day.

TODAY I’ll get to the gym. 

TODAY I’ll floss, and moisturize, and get to bed at a reasonable hour.

TODAY I’ll say ‘I love you’ and ‘Thank you’. 

TODAY I’ll keep my word, because it’s not just small talk. 

TODAY I’ll pay attention and listen to your heart.

TODAY I will not formulate my answer while you’re still speaking, 

just to show you how smart I am.

TODAY I will give it my all and not coast, even though yesterday went really well.

TODAY I will not worry about tomorrow, 

because tomorrow has enough worries of its own

which steal from today.

TODAY I will not dwell on yesterday, 

                      because yesterday’s gone, 

                                           useful only to learn from.

 In the Bible we are exhorted to “encourage each other every day, as long as it’s called ‘today’.” C’mon, it’s only for 24 hours, you can do that! 

Unlike Bill Murray in Groundhog’s Day, we don’t have to start from Square One every day. And thankfully, like Bill Murray, we can approach each today with the ‘edge’ that we gained yesterday. 

So Don’t Worry, Be Happy and 

healthy and

kind and 

productive and

thankful and 

generous and 

outward-focussed, TODAY.

You’ll be astonished at what gets accomplished, 

                            even when there is no Pennant at stake.

 *`*`*`*

To keep you in my loop, I “guest blogged” on my friend and mentor’s blog, http://streams-edge.blogspot.com, which I hope you will check out and enjoy.

And next month on May 3, I will be presenting at the Women’s Conference at Grace Fellowship, North Stonington, CT. Join us for encouragement, training, food, and laughs. For info and to register, log onto http://www.lifebygodsdesign.com.