Most of us seem to be a little too preoccupied with what’s down the road, to the point where we miss what’s right under our feet. We’ve got the idea in our heads that some other day will be somehow better than the day we’ve got now, and that today’s just a stepping stone to that day. There is some truth to that idea, better days will come, but there is no fault in today that could justify throwing it away.

           The future is a silly place to live; no man has ever seen it, and no man ever will. The path under our feet is the only path we have; what’s around the bend will be ours in its own time, but by then we’ll be looking on to the next bend. Plans and dreams will never be wholly fulfilled, so 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 fought for in the jungle, and the day our brothers are dreaming of right now in the desert. They all wished for a cool fall afternoon, a pretty girl, a peaceful waterfall. They envisioned the things we have now.

           Are we so far gone that we can’t appreciate what we’ve got? Do we have to keep looking around that next bend, or can we slow down and see what we’ve got around us right here?

           I don’t know who first had the idea that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, but I think he must have had the wrong idea. Is a bird really worth more because you’ve caught it? A free bird is worth far more than a captured one.

           A good life does no lie in grand investments for the future, or in how man birds a man has in his hand or how many stars he’s chased. It’s 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, and that is the most any man could ask for.