Here's to today!

 

“Make today the most important day of the year,

because tomorrow is not guaranteed.”

Dear Friends

Do you know John Altobelli? He was a coach who began every team practice with the words above, including a year ago today. He didn’t get a tomorrow. He, along with his wife and daughter, was one of those who died in the accident heard round the world a year ago tomorrow.

Kobe Bryant and his daughter, of course, were the center of most people’s attention following that horrible helicopter crash. But the story of Orange Coast College baseball coach John Atlobelli, which I read in today’s LA Times, is not just good counsel about making the most of each day. It is a reminder that everyone deserves our attention. Everyone has some wisdom to share, if we are listening.

Obviously, the news shook his players, including Michael Ryhlick who said, “You hear that quote and you’re like, yeah, yeah, it’s good motivational stuff, but when you see living proof of it, you’re like, ‘Whoa’. Now, I try to live by it and it kind of pushes me through everything. If I’m feeling lazy or like I want to take a rep off, I feel I can do more. I can’t mess around and not care about this, because if I wake up tomorrow and all of a sudden I can’t play, I don’t want to live with that regret. Why not give it my best shot every day?”

Speaking of the importance of each day, this Decalogue by Pope John XXIII is worth sharing:

Just for today, I will try to live for this day alone, without wishing to solve my life's problems all at once. 

Just for today, I will take great care of how I present myself; I will dress simply; (are you listening Lady Gaga?) I will not raise my voice; (Please do raise it, Lady Gaga) I will be polite in my manners; I will not criticize anyone; I will not look to improve or discipline anyone other than myself. 

Just for today, I will be happy in the certainty that I was created to be happy, not only in the world to come but also in this one.

Just for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without expecting  circumstances to adapt to my wishes.

Just for today, I will devote 10 minutes of my time to sitting in silence and listening to God, remembering that just as food is necessary for the life of the body, so silence and listening are necessary for the life of the soul.

Just for today, I will do a good deed and tell no one about it.

Just for today, I will do at least one thing I do not enjoy; and if my feelings are hurt, I will make sure no one notices.

Just for today, I will make a plan: Perhaps I will not follow it perfectly, but still I will make it. And I will guard against two evils: haste and indecision.

Just for today, I will know, from the bottom of my heart, no matter how it may seem, that God cares for me like no one else in this world. 

Just for today, I will have no fears. In particular, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe in love. I can easily do, for 12 hours, what I would find discouraging if I thought I had to do it for a lifetime.  

Reading the rest of newspaper each day, I am mindful that for too many during this pandemic, each day is not easily embraced as a gift. It is sad and sobering and painfully reminds us of the brevity and fragility of life.

But still, with a happy heart, here’s to today. And hopefully tomorrow!

John