Count

Gun’s Quote-of-the-Week:

“Do not count the days; make the days count.”

-Muhammad Ali

I really hate this time of year; I have to start by saying that.

First, I don’t like winter. Cold weather and I don’t get along. I’ve never really enjoyed the winter outdoor recreational activities, with the only exception of camping. Yeah, strange, but there is something tolerable about being out in the freezing cold when you are doing it with a bunch of your best friends.

It’s mostly just seasonal, though. Generally speaking, everybody is happy when they are putting their Christmas tree up or hanging lights on the house. Wrapping presents and staring at them underneath the tree in anticipation is exciting. Nobody enjoys taking the lights down, packing the ornaments and not having the fridge filled with wonderful leftovers anymore. (On the contrary, many people start their diets)

Then there’re taxes, which are just a burden and pain. There’s the fact that businesses in America don’t bother to take any holidays until May. Unless you work for the government or a bank, you work on President’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, and I’ve not heard of anybody taking Good Friday off for a while now.

This is the time of the year when the weather sucks, the taxes come due, the holidays are nowhere in sight and the gym is packed with people who packed on too many pounds over Christmas.

It’s times like these when it is so easy and tempting to bury my head in the sand and not do anything until spring.

I don’t feel like I’m the only one who has this problem. Our teens in my youth group consistently fall off this time of year. I think people at work are generally grumpier. People just don’t seem motivated. They know this is a dull and boring part of the year, and everybody just wants to get to an oasis in the desert of the winter.

Nobody stops living in January. Life does not stop. It doesn’t heed to our own motivational patterns. Right now, we have an opportunity to take what is usually a slow part of the year and turn it into something good. This is a time of year where one can introspectively decide that it is time to change and move on to something greater before the madness and chaos of the spring and summer hit. The danger is that often we don’t want to take that action. We want to be lazy. It’s cold outside. There’s “nothing” going on. There’s too much work and not enough time off, etc., etc.

I encourage you this week to think differently. Yes, we are past the first of the year. I’m not a fan of resolutions and that’s not what this is a about. This is about deciding what you are going to do to make all of your days – even the boring ones – count. What can you do to be better than you are today? How can you help yourself now? How can you help others? Are you willing to accept help yourself? What did you tell yourself you were going to change last year?

Well, guess what? It’s next year now. Time to act.

…and that’s why it’s a Gun’s Quote!