TODAY

"The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today." — H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

It was 11 years ago today that my best friend called me a chicken. I had known Stephanie for 8 years (and had been in love with her for the same amount of time) and just when she finally professed her mutual love for me...I hesitated.

At the time I don't think I would have been able to articulate why. After all, why does anyone self-sabotage? Today I think I'd call it fear of success or fear of happiness. Success and happiness come with responsibilities. No longer can we play the victim, and so we have to find new crutches to lean on.

So there I was, staring at what I'd longed for for 8 years, but I hesitated. She reminded me that we only get one chance at today, and then it's gone. And when I still didn't act she called me a chicken. Me! A chicken! I'm not afraid of anything—except the thought of blood (for real, I often pass out just thinking about blood...so I should probably stop explaining my fear of blood).

What Stephanie was kindly reminding me (remember the difference between being "nice" and being "kind"?) was that we have an amazing gift within this small 24 hour window. The gift of Today.

So often we wait for "someday" or "one day" to do all that we dream of—waiting for some other day to truly live and make our life what we've always imagined it to be. But "some day" never comes. What we do have, though, is the amazing gift of Today.

I'm so glad that Stephanie kindly guided me into action that day, because if I hadn't acted I would have missed my last chance. Just a month and a day later, quietly in her sleep, Stephanie went to sleep and never woke up.

We never know when Today will be our last day, so by using Today as a Magic Word we'll always be reminded to make the most of our opportunities.