My Sunday Thought for 102217: Each New Day

Each New Day

Every day when you awaken,

Knock on wood and give thanks;

The knocking proves you’re alive,

And life means another chance to excel.

Chance might mean failure,

But this is okay,

Because life is just a gamble;

And sometimes you lose.

Win or lose you must applaud yourself,

Letting no one diminish your effort

Even if it not be your best,

Giving thanks for constructive criticism.

Tomorrow you will wake once more,

Knock on wood and give thanks;

You have another glorious day in paradise,

And another chance to excel in life.

Every day is a gift from God,

A rebirth of opportunity.

Yesterday were God’s lessons for today,

And tomorrow is what we make of it.

Each new dawn brings us a promise,

So knock on wood and give thanks.

Failure is nothing more than a choice;

Each new day another chance to succeed.

Each Sunday I try to impress the idea of "giving thanks" upon patients in the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) ward of the medical center during my Sunday group meeting with them.  Ages for these troubled folks range from young to old.  Some are there because they need to be, some because they have to be, and some because they want to be, but all are there because they need help.  

What we all tend to forget is that help arrives each and every morning in God's gift of a new dawn, a new day, and another chance to excel in the life which we have also been gifted.  But, what if you have yet to learn this or anything else which you have been blessed with life to learn?  What if you feel you have failed achieving all you feel is expected of you?  What if life has beaten you down to the point that you just want to end it all?  Well, I guess you first need to understand that you haven't failed at anything until you stop trying.  The second thing to understand is that life only as difficult as you want it to be; no one controls your life, your decisions, your misery or your happiness, but you.

If you stop asking what happened and start asking why it happened, you will find the answer always comes back to you.  You made a decision, took an action, or did nothing, which resulted in some consequence in your life.  Okay, so something happened in the past - it is time to leave it there.  Today, each and every day, is a new day to try something different and see if you can get a better result for yourself.

"Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend - or a meaningful day."

-- 14th Dalai Lama, Lhamo Dondrub

I like to tell each new group of mine about the cartoon I once saw of a cat standing a ledge between windows, many stories up on a high-rise building.  The cat was obviously contemplating suicide.  A dog is looking out the window at the cat while leaning nonchalantly on an arm and telling the cat, "You haven't really thought this through very well."

The moral of the cartoon is based in the cat having nine lives; it will have to plunge to its death eight more times to finally accomplish the goal of suicide.  Herein lay our quandary, if we contemplate suicide:  What if our hell for not learning our lessons here, in this life, is to relive our lives over and over again until we do?  If your life is really crap, why would you want to keep reliving it?  And why, in the name of all that's holy, would you want to risk constantly repeating having to slam into the concrete at terminal velocity from the ledge of some building?  Why not just buckle down and change your circumstances?  It really isn't that difficult, it's just that we make it difficult.

"The chief beauty about time is that you cannot waste it in advance. The next year, the next day, the next hour are lying ready for you, as perfect, as unspoiled, as if you had never wasted or misapplied a single moment in all your life. You can turn over a new leaf every hour if you choose."

-- Arnold Bennett (1867-1931), writer, novelist 

Every day we live brings a new chance to try something different.  It isn't so much about finding what works in our lives to make us happy as it is about finding out why we're here and why we're destined with a purpose.  Each day we may find it is something totally different than the day before.  Yesterday it was all about pulling a man from a violent car wreck, today it was about welcoming a new chaplain into the medical center chaplaincy and rebuilding part of my parent's deck for them, and Sunday it will be sharing this post during my weekly presentation to the PTSD group.  I always try to keep in mind that, as bad as my day might get and as much as I might want to whine about it, there are those folks whose lives seriously suck, so how bad can my trivial issues really be?

So, how do you start changing your attitude and your life?  Well, every morning you wake up is a good morning; you are alive, and that is all any of us can truly hope for.  Knock wood, look up to heaven and give thanks, "Thank you, God, for another glorious day in paradise and another chance to excel in life!"  It's what I do, and it's what I tell my people each and every Sunday.  Hey, if you don't figure it all out in this life, don't sweat it, you can try to figure it out in the next, or the next.

Life isn't much easier than this to understand.

Write it on your heart

that every day is the best day in the year.

He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day

who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety. 

Finish every day and be done with it.

You have done what you could.

Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in. 

Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day;

begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit

to be cumbered with your old nonsense. 

This new day is too dear,

with its hopes and invitations,

to waste a moment on the yesterdays.

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), essayist, poet

Editor's Note 

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card) 

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider another viewpoint.

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 23 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with an Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, to wage his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as Chaplain Program Liaison, at a regional medical center.