Just for Today

1. Just for today, I will not be angry.

2. Just for today I will not worry.

3. Just for today, I will be grateful
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4. Just for today, I will do my work honestly.

5. Just for today I will be kind to every living thing.


I found this online yesterday while reasearching Reiki healing for an article I was writing. These are the five principles of Reiki healing and they really kind of stuck with me all day today. I like the phrase "Just for today" the most.

"Just for today" sums it up perfectly. We can't change yesterday and we can't predict tomorrow. We can only focus on now. We can't even focus on five minutes from now. So many times, we as humans put ourselves under so much undo pressure thinking about what's going to happen tomorrow. Or we trap ourselves under huge blanketing and all emcompassing statements that are more harmful than helpful. We need to replace the phrase "From now on" with "Just for today".

"From now on, I'm going to eat healthier!" or "Just for today, I'm going to eat healthier." One is almost always going to set you up for failure, because from now on is a long effing time, and the minute you screw it up, you feel bad. But, if you tell yourself everday "Just for today, I'll eat better." then you're allowing yourself a choice to do something positive just for that day, no more, no less. I like to think that if you are gentle with yourself, you'll make better choices. Also, if we're gentle to ourselves, then others will be as well.

The first way is like an order, the second one a gentle suggestion and a gentle suggestion will always do the trick, it allows the person to make the decision theirs, even if that person is yourself. One way is a burden, the other is empowering.

Hell, I can even see this working for your negative thoughts as well "Just for today, I'm going to dwell on why that fucker didn't call." Dwell on it, all day if you want. Because maybe that will help you let it go. Maybe that will make you see reason and see maybe the reason behind the negative wasn't ill intent. Or maybe it wasn't quite the way you thought it was. Whatever. Or maybe you just need to dwell on it because that's what you need to do, even if it doesn't serve any higher enlightenment.

I talked about OD@AT once which stands for "One DAy At A Time" and I realize that I've strayed from the concept that brought me much comfort in the past. I've become focused too much on the future, mainly because I'm scared. Scared of many things, where I'll live when I have to move, where will my job take me, should I go to school, will the kids be ok the older they get, will I find that perfect half of me and live forever in bliss with him? None of these things can be changed NOW and need to happen as time allows. If for some reason I do have to wait the 13 years to find my true love, what can I do about it now? Why am I so worried about it? Some things you just can't be proactive on. Some things, being proactive means doing little things everyday that accumulate over time, so that when the big bad scary thing happens, you're prepared for it.

I'm all philisophical about it now, but it's a struggle for me to remember that worrying gets me nowhere and it's something I still need to work on and will be harder for me to work on without my medication because of my naturally high anxiety levels I have had since I was a kid. But, I'll get by and I'll get through it and come out shining and a better person for it.