Our inordinate fascination with the future is born from the idea that some other day will be somehow better than the day we have now. There is some truth to that idea; better days will come, but there is no fault in today that could justify throwing it away, and nothing to gain by doing so.

          The future is a silly place to live; no man has ever seen it, and no man ever will. Plans and dreams will never be wholly fulfilled, and a man who lives on them will die wanting.

          The day we have now is a blessing. It is the day our grandfathers prayed for in the trenches, the day our fathers died for in the jungle, and the day our brothers are fighting for in the desert. At one point or another, they all envisioned a warm spring day, a blooming flower, a pretty girl, a peaceful waterfall. They envisioned the things that we have now.

          Are we so far gone that we cannot appreciate the beauty of this day? Must we throw it aside in favor of hopes for someday, or worse yet, give up all hope? Every rose has its thorns, and today has more than its share, but still there is beauty. There is always beauty.    

          A blind man wishes he could see, and a deaf man wishes he could hear, but a woman both blind and deaf is the inspiration of thousands. A legless man walks with his hands, and an armless man paints with his feet, so what excuse could you ever make for inactivity or ingratitude?

          A man must be willing to see beauty if it is to appear to him; the state of mind rules the state of life. We are all running after our own star, but we could, and perhaps should, simply sit in the warm breeze under the light of all stars. No matter how fast we run, we will never reach that star of our dreams, so why not lay back and enjoy them all as they are?

          I don’t know who first had the idea that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, but he must have been an incredibly materialistic man, whoever he was. Is a bird really worth more because you have caught it? An eagle soaring far beyond the reach of any man is worth more birds than could ever rest in the hands of all men.

           A good life does not lie in grand investments for the future, or in how many birds a man has in his hand or how many stars he has chased. It is in the answer to this question: are you glad to have lived today?

          In the end, if you have lived a stream of good days, you will look back and see a good life behind you. That is the most any man could ask for, and under the glow of such a life, a peaceful soul may depart this world without regret.