Ecclesiastes 11:7
Oh, how sweet the light of day, And how wonderful to live in the sunshine! Even if you live a long time, don’t take a single day for granted. Take delight in each light-filled hour, remembering that there will also be many dark days. And that most of what comes your way is smoke.

Sometime ago I posted the above Bible verse and as I diarized a few thoughts this morning I was led to share with you that whether we dwell on it or not, our life will end one day. I remember also writing that as we get older and come to terms with our own mortality and our need to leave a legacy behind, we then grapple for ways to ensure that our thinking becomes aligned with our life. We grapple for ways to make our lives more meaningful.

We understand that once we were babies, now we are grown and so life is not constant. We understand that today’s heroes are tomorrow’s history and memories. We understand that today we can have the best job and tomorrow it can be all gone due to illness, downsizing or the company is no longer a going concern. We understand that in life there is absolutely no guarantee. We cannot waste precious time given to us today.

Living in the present can help; this is because if you think about it tomorrow never comes. We should be deliberately happy and proactively move with intention to create our best life in this moment. We are not promised tomorrow. We should live each day as if it is the last day of our lives. We should inhale each breath thinking it might be our last. Meaningless!  As Solomon said, most of what we experience each day is a smoke. Solomon was a wise man, he lived well and came to the conclusion that the things we think are important, actually are not. Perhaps we should take some lessons from him. He understood this life that we live. Then, perhaps, we can make our life meaningful.

• Be good today, do good today.
• Love hard each day.
• Live with humility each day.
• Shake off criticism this minute unless it is to help you grow, then, grow immediately.
• Forgive instantly.
• Give without hesitation or reservation if you are able to.
• Spend time with family and give your children all the attention they require today.
• Avoid quarrels.

Life is unpredictable so do all you can do now; today, in this present moment. In the final analysis we can heed Solomon’s last advise to us in Ecclesiastes 12:13  “ Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”