Receive the day

I presented my Ecclesiastes lecture at North Central a little less than a month ago. It was my only lecture of the semester – and because of this I wanted to conclude it with something deep. The concluding thought was: receiving the day versus seizing the day. I took my own advice and decided to receive this day with open arms. How? Let’s get personal for a moment; this week has been pretty rough. I have been suffering from recurrent bouts of panic. There’s something about this time of year that makes my anxiety wax and wane. It’s quite cyclical.


And why am I anxious? It seems that more often than not I have a plan. All of my plans result in mounting stress. I realized today that it’s ok to stray from my plans and receive the day. I didn’t do my homework! Instead--Sonia and I took Cooper to a dog park. I was anxious because he was unleashed, but loved seeing him playing together with other dogs. It was difficult to catch him because he was having so much fun, but a snausage led him safely back to mom and dad. It’s nice to plan ahead, but it’s refreshing to receive the day. Every once in a while you have to just take the day as it comes to you. I hope and pray that this helps relieve me of my stress. I hope that you too can find peace. Have a wonderful rest of your weekend.

-Dan