Enjoy Every Day…Every Single Day

There are going to be good days, and bad ones. You will wake up and the sun will be shinning and you will be in a great mood, and sometimes there will be dark clouds you cannot shake. During some stages in life, a lot will be going your way, and at other times you will feel like the whole world is against you. There is no doubt that life is a roller coaster.

Regardless of what is happening in your life, remind yourself to enjoy every day. This really is a simple concept, but it is hard to put into practice. In fact, I try most days to do this, some days better than others. But it’s a basic truth, in which I strongly believe.

Here is what we do, especially as adults. We spend our days trying to get to the next thing, the next event, weekend, vacation, etc. We push through and ignore the present to try and get to some future expectation of fun. As we do this, life passes us by. We aren’t enjoying the moment. We aren’t stopping and thinking about all the good things that are in our life right now.

It gets worse. We spend a lot of time thinking about the past. We question what we or others did, we wonder what would have happened if things went differently. While, at the same time, we allocate much focus on worrying about the future. What if this doesn’t go right? Fears of the unknowable future, can consume and paralyze our present thinking.

So, son, daughter, enjoy every day.

Look at the word en-joy. En means “to cause a person to be in.” Also, if you look at the history of the word it comes from the Old French enjoir “to give joy, rejoice, take delight in.” Look at the day that you are IN. What around you should be making you happy right now? Also, who are you interacting with daily? Are you GIVING them joy?

Enjoyment is something that is active. It’s a matter of living and a state of being. We can enjoy a meal, a drink or a movie, but why can’t we enjoy every moment of our lives? Why can’t we enjoy every second we spend together? To properly enjoy something, it includes action to others. By talking about it, by showing it, we end up doing it.

So, my dear son, push yourself to be in joy, be sure to give joy.

Enjoy every day…

Why “If I Forget to Tell You…”

A couple of years ago, on a transatlantic flight back home, this project began. It was often in the silence and distraction-free environment of a longer plane ride that I found myself doing my best thinking. Only then, it seemed, did my world slow down enough for me to think some of the deeper thoughts of my life. That day was no exception.

They say that distance makes the heart grow fonder, and that couldn’t be more true. On my oversees trips I thought a lot about my family. And I mean a lot. How was I doing as a father and husband? What am I missing as a parent? Where can I improve? Am I taking for granted any of the milestones of parenthood? Am I teaching my kids all that I should? Am I loving them enough?

The questions went deeper… What if life suddenly got cut short? What if tragedy struck? Are there things I am forgetting to tell them? Am I equipping them with everything I have learned in my life? It struck me at that moment.  I would not let that happen. I determined to write down every lesson I would ever want my children to know. I would build a library, a place where they could come and learn all the lessons of life.

It dawned on me that if I pushed myself to write it, I would better be able to teach it. I would see the lesson with a greater passion and clarity.  By thinking about the lessons I was possibly forgetting to tell my children, I would ensure that I wouldn’t. It was a way to look into the future and prevent any possible regrets.

In time, others may contribute to this website. What if we could collect all the greatest lessons we would want to teach our children? What if we, ourselves, could go to a place and learn all the lessons from the loved ones we have lost? What a place that would be.

Son, daughter, there are so many lessons in life.  I will strive to teach them all to you. If I forget to tell you a lesson, you can find it here.