Don't Be a Day Counter

On September 1, I started seeing posts with how many days there were until Christmas, and once Halloween hit, I saw a post every day with the number.  As annoying as receiving that information every day, whether I wanted it or not, it sparked in my mind just how many times I see posts about how many days there are until something (the weekend, the next holiday, a vacation, spring break, graduation, summer, football season, the opening of a big movie, the premiere of season x of show y, etc.).  I just googled "how many days until" using quotes and got over 1 million results.  The first few pages of results are sites that will calculate the number of days until an event for you.  I know this doesn't seem like a big deal, but I submit to you that these people are not living their lives.  They are wishing their lives away.

I know we have to be aware of due dates and deadlines.  I'm a yearbook teacher, so I understand the need for schedule management.  That's not what I'm talking about, that's not what these pictures represent.  These are representative of people who think today is not worthy of their attention except for its transit to a different day. 

Working for the weekend means missing five days out of every seven.  More importantly, it means you are unaware of the opportunities God is putting in your path today.  To quote Ferris Bueller, "Life moves pretty fast.  If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."  To quote the Beatles, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."  To quote the gospel of Matthew, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

I've done this wrong.  There was a year that I was in the wrong job, and I thought that counting the number of school days left would help me feel better.  It had the opposite effect.  It served only to make me more miserable and slowed down each day.  It made me miss out on the impact I could have had on the students in front of me.  It made me miss out on the joys God was putting in my path because my eyes were farther down the road.  

If you are a day counter, here are some thoughts to keep in mind:
- The average person lives about 25900 days (average means some people don't have that many).
- What you do each day is important because you are trading a day of your life for it.
- Each day is a gift of God, and how you use it is an act of worship to Him.  
- God has a plan for your life, but that means He has a plan for your day, for this hour, for the next few minutes, and for each moment.
- He puts people right in front of you that you will miss if you are looking too far ahead.  
- If you knew you today was your last, would you do something different? 

I'm not expressing this the way I would like, but I found a poem that does, so I'll end this post with it.