There is no "one day".

It was around 2016, after a long recovery from a concussion that lasted longer than I could have ever imagined, I when I found myself thinking about my life.  I wondered where I was at, what I had already accomplished and what I was planning on doing.  I was 37 and still wondering when would I feel like I've finally figured my life out?  I mean, I checked all the boxes: education (check), career (check), marriage (check), mortgage (check), children (check), pay (check).  What else was there to figure out?  But there I was feeling haunted by a phrase that simply would not go away.  No matter how hard I tried, no matter how many lists I made and then systematically checked off, no matter how committed I felt deep down inside, I found myself repeatedly saying:

One day, I'll go through that drawer.
One day, I'll get rid of these clothes.
One day, I'll get organized.
One day, I'll I clear out all of this junk.
One day, I'll learn how to make that dish.
One day, I'll try doing that.
One day, I'll travel to that place.
One day, I'll invite them over.
One day, I'll see that show.
One day, I'll read that book.
One day, I'll say what needs to be said.
One day, I'll finally have things the way I want them.
One day, I'll have it all figured out.
One day, It'll be one day.

But the thing is, "one day" never came.

You see, there is no such thing as "one day".  It is a figment of our imagination.  It's a little white lie we tell ourselves when we're experiencing fear of missing out.  There is yesterday, there is today, and there could be tomorrow.  But one day, uhn uhn!  One day simply doesn't exist anywhere on the calendar!

I came to this realization when, for the first time in my life, I sat by the bed of a dying man.  It was when got to experience watching the last breaths of my father-in-law as he ended his long journey through life.  When his laborious breaths were finally coming to an end and we knew his time was near.  It was a long and hard journey, particularly towards the end, and from one moment to the next we thought, "Oh, boy!  This is it.  He's gone.  That was his last breath!"  and then suddenly he would start breathing again.  It was so terrible.  Unpredictable.  Unnerving.  Unsettling. Unimaginable.  He held on for so long.  In the end I realized that he was going to go when he was going to go.  And we had absolutely no control over it.

It was then that I realized, that there really is no "one day".  There is only today.  There is only this moment.  You simply do not know when you're last breath will be even when you're sure it's the last.  It's absolutely and positively not in your control.  Yes, its unnerving.  Yes, its unsettling. Yes, its unimaginable.  But today is the only day that you know you'll get.  Because unbeknownst to you, there will be a day when your time will come for you to take your last breath.  No if's, and's, or but's.  No one can escape this final destination.  We all share this same fate no matter who we are, what we have accomplished and what we still hope to accomplish "one day".  It is the great equalizer.

So my question to you is, will you leave this earth with a laundry list of things you wish you had done on that elusive "one day" that never came?  Or, will you you live your days knowing that "one day" is in fact today, right now, in these very moments. Will you live your life well by achieving that which you could, by loving and living wholeheartedly and realizing your infinite potential?

I know which one I choose.

Come join me in my journey.