What year is it? Depends on who you ask.
According to the Gregorian calendar, the one most commonly used worldwide, it’s the year 2021.
But the Roman calendar (Ab urbe condita) says it’s the year 2774. It’s 1470 on the Armenian calendar and 6771 on the Assyrian calendar.
by Brett Campbell
The calendar of the Baha’i – a solar calendar consisting of 19 months plus 4-5 days, used in the Baha’i faith – says it’s the year 177. The Hebrew calendar says it’s 5781.
What month is it? January, according to the Gregorian calendar, and Sh’vat in the Hebrew calendar.
What day is it? Sunday the 17th. Or is it? That’s what day I’m writing this – Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021 – but it may not be the day you’re reading it. So what day is it, really?
If you read this Monday, are you reading it tomorrow and I wrote it yesterday? Since the column is not yet complete, that makes it written yesterday, today and tomorrow. Simple, right?
Let’s just agree that it’s today. You’re reading this today, so for all practical purposes, I’m writing it today, too.
Today is the only day we ever really have.
Tomorrow is not promised to us, no matter what we have planned or no matter how certain we are we’ll see the day. Yesterday is passed, and is the past, and we cannot go back to it to change one bit of it. We have today. This hour, this minute, this moment, this breath. Then it’s gone and we have this one, then this one, then this one, and so on.
I can waste this moment worrying about what may happen tomorrow, regretting or longing for what happened yesterday, etc. Or I can live in it.
Learning from the past, planning for the future, I can make good use of the time I have right now.
I’ve learned much from the wise people in my life, including my parents. One bit of wisdom I learned came from when my dad told me he had started reading a book and then tossed it aside, deciding not to waste his time with it.
“There are too many good books out there to waste my time reading a bad one,” he said. The same sentiment can be applied to a lot of things in life.
Have you ever seriously asked yourself the question of what you would do differently if you knew today was your last one on earth?
Or have you ever seriously posed the question to yourself of what you would do differently if you knew today was definitely not your last one on earth?
If either would cause you to change what you’re doing, change it. Planning is good, but all you have is right now.
Make good use of it.
And by the way, happy Sh’vat! Shalom.
