ON SECOND THOUGHT – Tomorrow Can Still Be A Good Day
It’s a little strange to think that this Sunday series has become the only major way in which I mark the passing of days in 2020. Every Saturday night and Sunday morning, I find myself crafting new ideas to put up by the time when the morning people have already ticked five things off their rigorous routines while the night owls are just about opening their eyes, and there’s nothing ever as satisfying as hitting publish before I head to make a cup of tea.
It was only in June that I put my fears aside and plunged into the idea I had sitting firmly in my head and heart of posting regular content each Sunday, and a quick search yesterday made me realise that I’ve written over 20 posts for the series at this point. Definitely couldn’t imagine the year without it!
Last week, I shared with you some wise words I heard my dad say about focusing on the prize and not the price, and needless to say, as always your messages brought smiles to my face but they also made me recognise that a lot of the times my experiences aren’t so different from everyone else’s.
On my mind this week has been something completely different. As November continues to run away from me and life in lockdown feels more and more mundane, I’ve been doing a lot of looking back on the year 2020 as a whole. Seems like only yesterday but also about a few ages ago I started this year with a trip back home to Italy where I was spending days going from offices to restaurants in rotation like a hamster on a wheel. It was fun then, but it wasn’t the kind of fun that seemed unique in any way, rather it was fun in an everyday type of way. Then in March everyday things became a luxury in a nearby distant memory that everybody wanted a taste of again.
I began to think about all the things I would cherish differently if I had a second chance; all the little things that went unnoticed and the everyday things that were underappreciated.
Lately, as I experience lockdown for the second time, I’ve been thinking back at the grim days when I felt hopeless during the first. The blog surely served as a way to document the highs and lows of that time, and I’m sure one day I’ll look back on my old posts and wonder why I had so little faith there might be a light at the end of what felt like an endless dark and bleak tunnel. Yes, sometimes, I did search for the bright side, but I wonder whether I truly believed the things I typed out or if it was good enough that I wanted to believe them.
There is nothing perfect about my days now. I don’t always wake up each morning with a grin on my face and some days I just accept as duvet days real quickly – after all, I too am a night owl – but things are definitely looking up, although not much has changed. Is it acceptance or just a pre-Christmas induced cheerful and hopeful spirit in the air?
There’s one thing I’ve become sure and certainly aware of this year. It is not a thought that’s ground-breaking in nature as it has to do with the basic course of life, but I think it is important to consciously think about. Every day comes to an end and tomorrow can still be a good day.
I feel like if we look at things like that it might be a little easier deal with hard days and failures. If I kept it in the front of my mind in those ironically sunny April days that the ones ahead could still be great (and really believed it), perhaps everything that felt heavy could have also felt a lot more temporary.
What if each night we closed our eyes we saw tomorrow as a clean slate, a second chance, a do-over. It doesn’t necessarily mean that things will fall right into place differently than they did before, but it’s a second attempt at creating the life you want. I’m a strong believer that happiness is created, it doesn’t just land on anyone’s lap, so if you plan to make tomorrow a better day you might actually succeed. If you don’t, you can try again the next day.
I also think it’s always easier said than done to change your perspective and outlook, but nonetheless it is doable. This week, I hope you remember often that tomorrow can still be a good day – maybe it will be.
Your restless romantic roamer
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Thanks for sharing this! I definitely needed the reminder that every day is an opportunity for rebirth!