today

i am just about to finish the third of dean koontz' odd thomas series and i am as pleased with this one as the other two. the third book is called brother odd and takes place at a monastery deep in the california sierras during a fierce winter storm.

the title character made the following observation early in the story:

when we hope, we usually hope for the wrong thing.we yearn for tomorrow and the progress that it represents. but yesterday was once tomorrow, and where was the progress in it?

or we yearn for yesterday, for what was or what might have been. but as we are yearning, the present is becoming the past, so the past is nothing but our yearning for second chances. ...

as long as i remain subject to the river of time, which will be as long as i may live, there is no way back ... to anything.

i tend to agree with this description -- we lose too many "todays" either looking forward or looking back. i am particularly guilty of this: i make plans and goals and constantly think about where i am going and what is coming next, rather than fully enjoy what i am doing along the way. sure, looking back i have many fond memories, but i definitely recall feelings of impatience in most every one. and that impatience remains my constant companion.

president monson once gave a talk in general conference with a similar theme entitled in search of treasure, in which he stated that "sometimes we let our thoughts of tomorrow take up too much of today. daydreaming of the past and longing for the future may provide comfort but will not take the place of living in the present. this is the day of our opportunity, and we must grasp it." there are so many good things to do *today*.

i heard a striking comercial on the radio the other day. the narrator went through a list of questions such as the following, "remember that one time you almost volunteered at the food bank? remember the day that you almost donated blood? and the time you almost visited a sick friend at the nursing home? ..." my dad used to tell me that "almost" only counts in horseshoes, grenades, and kissing.

president monson noted in the same conference talk that "there is no tomorrow to remember if we don’t do something today, and to live most fully today, we must do that which is of greatest importance. let us not procrastinate those things which matter most."

what are the things that matter most? and why am i not doing those? elder neal a. maxwell once commented that we may be filling our lives with so many good things that we don't have time for the most important things. we need to have priorities -- and allow those priorities to guide our daily decisions, guide our daily actions. so that we may accomplish "those things which matter most," as president monson counsels. and accomplish them *today*.