If we thought of each day as a New Year, imagine what we could accomplish? In fact, a new day is just like a new year. It is the gift of time and with the right purpose and intention, it will be enough to bring you joy and happiness on a daily basis.

“Each Morning we are born again. What we do today matters most.” – Buddha

Sadly, it may not always feel like that. When we are tired or feeling overwhelmed with life, we often don’t see the value of each day and the gift that it brings. Some days, we are just living to survive, put food on our tables or just to breathe.

Maybe you are worried about the future and what it holds.  Or maybe something happened yesterday and you are still thinking about it. Either way, there is little we can do to change the past or know truly what tomorrow brings.

Today, however, is a gift of time. A present wrapped in the warmth of the sun, illuminating us with rays of light, energy and hope to navigate another day. 

With this gift, we have the power to shape the next twenty hours of our life. Even if we were to subtract the eight hours of sleep, there are still 16 hours left to make the most of today.

Here is the best way to go about it.

Appreciate The Little Things

We can start by appreciating this day. This moment. The shelter of a home, the stability of a job and the love of friends, family and our community. Here is a post about Blessings of The Basic Things in Life. We may not have everything that our hearts desire but for today, we have enough. 

Practice Acts of Kindness

Sometimes it’s not the big stuff, like landing a job or buying a home. Rather it is the small stuff. Like the small acts of kindness that we could extend to ourselves and others to make the world a kinder and brighter place.

Find time for yourself to nourish your body and soul. Do something that brings you joy like running, exercising or writing. Here are Four Self Care Gifts For a better you.

Extend kindness to others by supporting a budding writer on Medium or WordPress by commenting or following them. Text or call someone you haven’t heard from in a while. Every act of kindness is like a drop of water that fills the world with love, compassion and meaning. 

Work on Your Goals

If you haven’t already, work on your goals. If you don’t have goals, create some. It could be a simple is creating more joy in your life by writing a post a week for this year. Write it down and place it in an area that you can see everyday. As reminder of the why it is important to you.

Create new habits or revisit old ones to continue building your future and working on your dreams. Never, never give up. On you or your dreams.

A wise man once said,

don’t be afraid to start again. You are not starting from scratch. You are starting from experience. 

And it is better to start and fail a thousand times than to never have started at all. 

Don’t Forget to Smile

Start the day with a smile. Not only does it make your face look better but it also brightens the world a whole lot more! 

“Let your smile change the world but don’t let the world change your smile.”

There will maybe some hard and difficult moments or choices that will enter your day but if you are trying your best, then that is all that matters.

And when the sun starts to set and the clocks wind down, remember to take a moment to celebrate and appreciate the gift that is called today.