Today is worthy of the good stuff

Well, we survived the garage sale. The weather was a little sketchy at times, and the crowds weren’t huge, but we were able to unload a lot of stuff and make a little change in the process. As soon as the remnants are carted off to Goodwill, we’ll be in good shape.

Preparing for the garage sale and getting rid of all that stuff got me thinking, though. Why didn’t we do this sooner?

It’s so nice to have the space that all this stuff was occupying. We obviously didn’t need it anyway, since much of it lived in boxes, or at least untouched, for all these years.

Same goes for repairing the doorknob hole in the wall, replacing that piece of siding that had blown off, fixing the front flower bed, and a bunch of other little tasks.

Why is it that we didn’t consider ourselves important enough to do it, just for us?

Why did we wait until it was time for other people to judge the house?

And that led me to think of other things, too. Why do people save “the good china” for very rare occasions, like Christmas dinner? Why are the good pieces of jewelry only worn once in a blue moon? Why does my husband dress so nicely for work, but look ironically homeless when he’s at home, with shirts full of holes and paint stains? Why do I live in gym clothes every day instead of getting dressed in something nicer, even if I’m not planning to leave the house?

Why isn’t every single day just as important as those special occasions for which we save the good stuff?

I guess I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Earlier in the summer, I was packing for a camping trip. In the storage room in our basement, I pulled out the old, mismatched silverware we always take camping. Then my eyes lit on a wooden box on my shelf of kitchen extras. It was a set of gold-plated silverware my Aunt Marcia had given me as a wedding shower gift.



The gold silverware had only been used maybe twice since I received it in 2001.
Why?

So, with a little smile, I replaced the old mismatched stuff and I picked out enough pieces of the goldware and packed it into the camping tub. At camp, I surprised my men by setting the picnic table with plastic plates and gold silverware. Classy!





My husband gave me a strange look and asked why I had brought that, of all things.
Because, I told him, it’s supposed to be for special occasions, and I couldn’t think of anything more special--anyplace I’d rather be--than camping with him and the boys.
He liked that and we had fun eating with the goldware. After the camping trip, I didn’t pack it back into its box, either. We actually use it now. Why not?

Take a look around your home. What are you putting off? If you were going to sell your house, how would you spruce it up to make it more attractive to buyers? Don’t you think you deserve to enjoy those benefits as well? After all, it’s your life.

Every day is a special gift, and shouldn’t be seen as anything else.

So, go for it. Put on the good earrings and go weed your garden. Drink your wine out of the good crystal and don’t worry about breaking it. Put some of those really expensive bath salts into the tub and enjoy a good soak tonight. Or whatever.

Just make today count.

You’ll never get it back, so you might as well enjoy it.