Tip: Are you building a life or simply living day to day?

What if you knew that today was the most important day of your life? What if you knew that something was going to happen today that would be the turning point of your life? What if you knew that one day you would be able to look back at some seemingly insignificant occurrence that happened today and realize that it was a pivotal point for your entire future? Do you want to know what I believe? I believe that today is that day. Let me explain.

Each day of our life contains decisions and circumstances that, although small at the time, add up to create the total picture. Life’s big decisions and major turning points are all of the result of minor decisions and seemingly insignificant events. When a person gets to the end of their life having attained great financial success, more than likely it is not because they won the lottery. It is probably because they knew the importance of saving a little at a time, in order to create wealth at the end of the journey. I think many of us are beginning now to see the wisdom of the older generation who taught us that we should save our money for a “rainy day” and not spend it all as though it were burning a hole in our pocket. They were right! Carrying a load of debt with no thought to saving is not really a good way to plan for the future. Unfortunately, many of us do not learn that lesson until we experience the pain of our poor financial decisions. And, there are other similar areas as well.

I had lunch not too long ago with a gentleman who said that in the past he had heard that real estate could actually go down in value, but that he really did not understand that concept until the housing market took a dive. You see, his experience helped him to understand his knowledge.

The same thing holds true in relationships. When you get married, you don’t just marry one person. You marry an entire family! The wedding is only a one-day event and then building relationships within the entire family continues for the rest of one’s life.

I won’t even go into what a few moments of heated passion can lead to. You see, it seems like only an event at the time, but it isn’t long before you realize it is another building block that affects nearly every area of your life.

And, think about our physical health. I will always remember the time one of my daughters told me that we could go buy a dozen hot Krispy Kreme doughnuts and either eat them or just tape them right up on our hips! Eating foods that aren’t necessarily good for us can seem like an insignificant activity, yet those choices become building blocks which can add inches to our frame and affect our health.

All I am saying is that I wish someone had explained to me early on in life that each day is a building block that helps to create my life. I was not aware that all of the little decisions and things I did, that seemed to be only one-time events, would build upon each other to become the structure of my life. The decisions we make, whether they be spiritual, moral, financial, relational or social, all seem so innocent on a daily one-time basis, and then one day we wake up to see what the sum total of them has produced.

As we travel along the road of this thing called life, I trust that you will look at the bigger picture. Let’s include some great building blocks today for the future. Let’s build a good life day-by-day, because our little daily decisions all add up to create the sum total of who we are. In the end, that is the best way to go!