What Matters Most

“Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.” This is a quote by Buddha that resonated with me a few years ago and I still think of it from time to time. Before you jump to conclusions, I am not pushing any religious beliefs on you because I believe we find guidance from many different opinions, beliefs, and philosophies. I like how simple and to the point it is. I like to live my life girl that same way. I posted this quote by my door for years to remind me to do what matters most today. It helped me get through some challenging days at work and reminded me as I left for happy hour to live in the present. I moved to my new home in March of 2020 and that little reminder never made it back to my new door. As simple as those words are, I think I forgot to remind myself and fear I abandoned my routine. The universe has a funny way to remind us of things we need an a few weeks ago, as I walked on Florida’s Gulf Coast, it struck me. The first part kept repeating in my mind as I watched the waves coat the morning sand with a shimmery glaze. The tide was receding slowly leaving remnants and treasures for us to find. We were hunting shells of a specific color and shape but couldn’t resist the tiny shells and the broken beauties that graced our path. That morning was refreshing, it was a new day. The waves had washed away the day before. The tourist’s footprints, umbrella holes, the perfect sandcastles all gone with the high tide. Every day the ocean washes away the memories of the day before and is “born again” to “do today what matters most”.  

I was also reminded over the weekend that even in your 60’s you can begin again. My parents are selling their home after 21 years. They are starting fresh. A new adventure, a new chapter to write. They are truly living their life girl. While we sifted through old memories and treasures, it was hard not to hold on to the past. Just like those broken beauties on the beach that morning we couldn’t resist to gaze at them one more time. It was heavy to go through the past but with each new day it started getting lighter and lighter – we were being born again each day to shed a little bit of the past to make room for their future.  After the house listed, I could see the stress start lifting from my parents’ shoulders. They had done what matter most today for their tomorrow.

In my 30’s I thought it would be too late to do a lot of things I wanted to do, or I thought I should do. Travel the world, get married, have children, buy a house, start a career. And I may not have all those things now, but I may not want all those things. Now in my 40’s I am reminded that you can begin again, each day, each month, each birthday, each year. We give ourselves the opportunity to start fresh all the time. There is never a time when you can’t begin again to do what matters most to you. For the ocean she begins again each morning, cleaning the sand for new footprints giving us new treasures and new memories. For my parents it’s in the middle of a pandemic, to build a dream that has been brewing for years. For me it was in the winter of 2019, I decided I wanted to buy a home and I did within 3 months of setting my goal, I have a new beginning to do what matters most to me. For you it might be today, tomorrow or next Monday.  If there is something that you think it is too late to do – think again – you can fix your finances, repair those broken relationships, start a new career or find the love you deserve. You have the opportunity each day when you are born again to do what matters most. Live your life girl, each day with a new heart.