A few months ago, after having just moved back from London into my new NYC apartment, a friend came to visit, gifts in hand. The first was a handcrafted two-glass wine set for best friends; the second, a book. Life is life, and as much as I wish it weren’t true, I’ve put the wine glasses to more use than the book. Just last night, however, I managed to open the paperback and continued reading from where I last left off.
Page 97.
We’ve all experienced feelings of epiphany; moments that took us aback, made us stop and think. I read page 97 and felt the urgent need to put the book down. And I did. For the next 45 minutes, I partook in a pampering experience that nearly mirrored a spa day. Shower, lotion, face mask, new, clean silk pajamas, lit candles, my favorite faux fur blanket, a cup of hot tea. I had an evening to myself, and I decided to make it count today. I crawled into bed and flipped back to page 97.
I reread the title of the chapter: “Today is special enough.” It was a reminder I needed, one that we all need. Whether we are in school, working, taking care of loved ones, running the race that is life, we need to grab hold of the little moments and the big moments and make them all count. If I am going to read a book in bed, I’m going to do so wearing my comfiest PJs; if my friend is in town, no matter how far, I will see her; if I’m invited to dinner, I’m going to wear the bright yellow heels I love, even if everyone is in flip flops. We shouldn’t save “special” for a special occasion. We should make every occasion special.
Well, what if the special runs out? What if we get used to special and it loses its magic?
Life is an enigma. If it weren’t, we’d have all the answers to everything; we’d know what moves to make and when to make them because things would be predictable… Does that really sound anything like life to you? Life throws more curveballs our way than baseball players do in their careers. Sure, that makes things harder, messier, and more complicated for us, but it also keeps us on our toes, excited. Special moments will never run out because life has way too much to offer us. If anything, we should be more concerned about not experiencing enough of those special moments.
It’s been years since my mom recovered from chemotherapy, and to this day, she takes a hot bath with Epsom salts (almost) every night before bed. She doesn’t save the salts for a single exceptional day. Every day is special enough for my mom. She loves it. She goes to bed feeling clean and warm and relaxed and happy. I’m not saying we should all take Epsom salt baths every evening, but we should think about what genuinely makes us happy and do it, even if it’s a bath instead of a shower or a wearing a pair of silky pajamas. We should make every day special because if not today, then when? We shouldn’t wait. We shouldn’t postpone.
Page 101.
“Each day is a precious gift to be savored and used, not left unopened and hoarded for a future that may never come.” –Regina Brett