This TED video featuring cinematographer Louie Schwartzberg gives us a number of reminders to live for today. Within this wonderful meditation on reasons to be grateful and thankful, there is this wonderful quote from an old man (not identified):
“Do you think this is just another day in your life? It’s not just another day. It’s the one day that is given to you. Today. It’s given to you. It’s a gift. It’s the only gift that you have right now. And the only appropriate response is gratefulness.”
“If you do nothing else but to cultivate that response to the great gift that this unique day is, if you learn to respond as if it were the first day of your life, and the very last day, then you will have spent this day very well.”
“Begin by opening your eyes and be surprised that you have eyes that you can open. The incredible array of colors that is constantly offered to us for our pure enjoyment. Look at the sky. We so rarely look at the sky. We so rarely note how different it is from moment to moment, with clouds coming and going…”
He continues his meditation on all the people you meet and all the amazing blessings our culture offers, from flick-of-a-switch electricity to clean, drinkable hot and cold running water. He concludes:
“Let the gratefulness overflow into blessing all around you. Then, it will really be a good day.”