I recently featured a writing that spoke of a clock that was worried about the passage of time…
“In the old McGuffrey’s Reader is a story about the clock that had been running for a long, long time on the mantelpiece.; One day the clock began to think about how many times during the year ahead it would have to tick. It counted up the seconds-31,536,000 in the year-and the old clock just got too tired and said, ‘I can’t do it,’ and stopped right there. When somebody reminded the clock that it did not have to tick the 31,536,000 seconds all at once-but rather one by one-it began to run again end everything was alright.” One By One by Nenien C. McPherson, Jr. and published in 1965 by Harper and Row, publishers.
…We’re like that clock. We look to see what lies ahead and forget that the future doesn’t come all at once. There is a reason why we experience the passage of time as a river. Each day is like a small eddy that pools for a moment, and then moves forward again. It’s the eddies we need to be concerned with, not the fast-flowing river.
This is a writing that I’ve always found to be inspirational.. It’s called Just for Today by Kenneth L Holmes, also featured in that Treasure Chest Collection.
“Just for today, I will try to live through this day only, and not tackle my whole life problem at once. I can do something for 12 hours that would appall me if I felt that I had to keep it up for a lifetime.
“Just for today, I will be happy.. This assumes to be true what Abraham Lincoln said, that ‘Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.’
“Just for today, I will try to strengthen my mind. I will study. I will learn something useful. I will not be a mental loafer. I will read something that requires effort, thought, and concentration.
“Just for today, I will adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires. I will take my ‘luck’ as it comes, and fit myself to it.
“Just for today, I will exercise my soul in three ways: I will do somebody a good turn, and not get found out. I will do at least two things I don’t want to - just for exercise. I will not show anyone that my feelings are hurt; they may be hurt, but today I will not show it.
“Just for today, I will be agreeable. I will look as well as I can, dress becomingly, talk low, act courteously, criticize not one bit, not find fault with anything and not try to improve or regulate anybody except myself.
“Just for today, I will have a program. I may not follow it exactly, but I will have it. I will save myself from two pests: Hurry and indecision.
“Just for today, I will have a quiet half hour all by myself, and relax during this half hour, sometime, I will try to get a better perspective of my life.
“Just for today, I will be unafraid. Especially I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful, and to believe that as I give to the world, so the world will give to me.
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Don Jackson
