This has been my personal mantra for almost a decade now, and has been key to me making it through some pretty tough times. The actual mantra goes like this:
“Just do today, but make it the best day it can be.”
There are some experiences that we go through in life that are so heavy, you feel you can’t bear it. And it’s true, you can’t! We were never meant to bear the whole trial all at once. We only need to get through one day.
Try to keep your focus only on today. Don’t look back to see how long you’ve been dealing with your trial. Don’t look ahead, to see the hard days continuing on ahead of you. Just do today.
One Sunday, at church, our Bishop counseled with my husband and me about our trial of caring for our daughter and her severe health issues. He pointed out that we had been doing this for many years, and did we feel like we could continue? I was quick and blunt in my own answer: “No! I can’t!” (I think my answer surprised him, because I’m usually a pretty optimistic person.) With a little smile I said, “But I can do today.” And life, my friends, is just all of our todays put together.
So, now you know my secret for surviving hard times. In my next post I’ll share how we thrive in survival mode. Stay tuned.