It takes great mental discipline with a little help to take one day at a time. The difficulty is forward thinking; letting tomorrow’s worry’s add to today’s challenges. Nothing wrong in thinking down the road it just causes more exhaustion, more stress added to anxiety. Theres added spiritual power by being in the moment that comes from above. God is always in the moment.
Most of my career in baseball I lived thinking about later, later in the day about a game. Often being removed from talking to the family while having a meal together. While one is thinking about later your not in the present. Everyone picks up on it as being distant, uncaring. Not what I really wanted! It’s hard to be relational at that level of a career. I look back and hate my manners but all has worked out. Behavior forgiven.
Recently, Janet and I watch our two youngest grandchildren for six days while mom and dad were out of town. Brynley, our four year old granddaughter is not a problem, we have her by herself many times. The challenge is her 18 mo brother Liam, turned hurricane whose gale force winds and mass disruption will wear you out. Toys everywhere, what’s on a table lands on the floor. Very little calm by being in the eye of the storm. But a wonderful bright young man. God will do wonders with him.
I find myself initially saying, “I’m not going to make it through the day let alone six days”! Problem is thinking 6 days out. I’m not that young anymore, it takes young people to raise kids. But all that thinking is in the natural and not the supernatural.
A baseball player knows what it is to be in the moment. As soon as he steps into the batters box, years of training goes into effect by focusing on the “at bat”. The moment of his turn at the plate is totally focused on the “then”. Everything else is blocked out, he is in the zone. Problem with using discipline alone it’s that a player can only focus for a short time because of the intensity of the moment. So something else has to happen to be in the moment while taking one day at a time.
A supernatural mind set has to be used in order to take one day at a time. Connecting with loving on kids, joy in the moment, pushing pleasure, fun and enjoyment, pace the marathon race. It is a race that often ends in collapse at the end of the day. By tomorrow am though, looking forward to another day arrives with the same challenges and some new expressions and insights. One has to put on their spiritual eyes and ears to catch the gems that come out of their mouth or the little expressions that communicate its own language. It can be fun chaos.
Actually by the 6th day I found my rhythm, maybe it was because I knew it was the last day. Anyways, it was a blessing and one really gets to know the kids. Taking one day at a time does matter because God is always in the moment.