I recently asked a close friend, how are you? to which she replied, “I’m alive.”  Based on her response, it sounded as if life had been difficult.  And, I agree, it’s been a rough year. We have all experienced pain in some way or another, due to the recent events plaguing our nation. But too often, the response “I’m alive,” sounds more like a death sentence, instead of something to be celebrated.

Her response reminded me of a commitment I made because of a movie titled All My Life.  That commitment was to create “Something Remarkable” each day, regardless of the circumstances I encounter.

The movie is a true story about a couple who moved up their wedding day because of a terminal diagnosis the fiancé received.  A mere four months after the wedding, he died. 

After the movie was released, Jennifer, his wife, wrote a letter stating, “Sol and I had a choice, to either give in to fear at the prognosis laid upon us – or to move forward with the time we had been given.  We decided to make the most of the time we had left together and make those times memorable and remarkable.”

The film opened and ended with his wife speaking this narrative:

The average person lives 27,375 days.  

But then again, how many days do we really remember anyway?  

Most days pass by unnoticed, unremarkable, unmarked.

 Because we only remember the days when we feel something happened.

Most days will pass in a blur. So many of mine did. They were lost in routine.

My life was becoming a series of forgotten days.

Because of Sol,

I’m living for now.  

And I know what it means to love.  

And be loved.  

I’ll let the moments in my life guide me. 

And heal me. And strengthen me. And inspire me.  

I will live that way. 

Every day. All my life.

Something Remarkable

As the film concluded, I allowed those words to sit with me for a moment, and I asked myself, 

Is it possible to make each day remarkable and memorable?  

What if I had a bad day?

How would I make it remarkable?   

When all the days blend into each other, it isn’t easy to differentiate one day from the next. It makes me recall a meme I saw, which states, “the days of the week are now, thisday, thatday, otherday, someday, yesterday, today and nextday.” 

In other words, they are all just a Day. And, if we are not intentional, they will pass in a blur.

To that end, the next day following the movie, I pulled out a new journal and labeled it “Something Remarkable.”

I promised myself to take note of each day, to make them memorable.  Because if we are alive, it means we overcame some stuff, and our hard times didn’t destroy us. 

I’ll admit, it’s not always easy to find something remarkable when circumstances are horrific. On those days, I press a little deeper within myself while looking for the rainbow.

As Jennifer used her memories of Sol to motivate her, my faith pulls me up when I try to linger in the “woe is me” zone.  

A quote I saw last year says, “When all of this is over, we should celebrate like it’s a new era.”

Personally, I’m not going to wait for this to be over to celebrate.  Every day I’m alive calls for celebration!

Number Your Days

Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days carefully, so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.”

When I was younger, I thought I had all the time in the world.  Now, I often ask myself, where did it all go?  If we don’t use our time wisely, we will look back with regrets.

In retrospect, I wonder what our mindset would have been, or how we might have done things differently in 2019, knowing what was ahead. 

We can’t come out of this pandemic without learning something from it.   Here’s what I’m learning:

Treasure each day as they come.

Dance when no one is looking and when everyone is looking.

Spend quality time with families and friends.

Don’t wait for a reason to celebrate – instead, create a reason to celebrate.

Be at peace with yourself and enjoy your own company.

Don’t save so much for a rainy day, that you can’t enjoy the sunshine every now and then.

And,

If life should give you lemons, use them to create a zest for life within yourself.

Make Something Remarkable,

With The Water I Give