The other day I drove through town where there was a sign for a local running race that was coming up in the next few months. I have no plans to run in the race in which the course goes straight up the side of a mountain for 4.3 miles up to an elevation of over 2,200 feet and then turns around and comes back down for a total of 8.6 miles, but . . . it sure made me think about it. And I have ran it before. Twice.

Why do we have the desire to climb the highest mountains, dive into the deepest oceans and run for hundreds of miles at time?

I believe it’s because we have an innate desire to know what we’re capable of when we push ourselves to our limits. To reach deep and see what we’re made of. If we can face the fear of doing so. Which is a feat itself.

Often times, the decision to do commit to the challenge is more painful than the actual event itself. But the end result is always the same: a deep sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. A feeling of self-worth and self-respect. The sore muscles, bruises and pain will subside over time, but I would argue that your confidence does. It may fade a bit – nothing another self-induced challenge can’t cure – but always remains deep within you like a valued resource sitting in the corner of your office waiting for you to call upon it’s use.

But, often times we can’t help ourselves from engaging in another activity in order to kindle that feeling once again.

And so, we reach deep.

We don’t have to worry about what we’re going to do the rest of our lives. We just need to worry about today – more specifically right now.

Often times we can psyche ourselves out by worrying about how we’re going to sustain this workout program, this way of eating, work this job, keep this schedule, maintain this income or continue this day of staying clean by saying to ourselves, “How am I going to do this the rest of my life?” The answer is: you don’t. Just today.

We needn’t worry about tomorrow nor the next as it hasn’t come and we may not even be on this earth, but today. . . I can go for a run. Or I can have water instead of a soda or I call 10 more clients RIGHT NOW. In this moment I can make a strong choice without thinking about the future. This is possible.

We can break down our big aspirations into bite-size and digestible chunks that we can mentally process in order to make our actions much easier to approach and move through.

We are creatures of the past and the future. We often struggle to remain in the moment. But, if we can, we begin to take one step at a time on a consistent basis, which turns into real progress over time. If we can only exercise a wee bit of patience.

We can all eventually create great things by continually showing up for brief periods of time by making strong choices and leaving tomorrow for another day and take action on the right thing now – today.

It’s always a good time to cultivate.

When we’re bored with where we are – cultivate.

When we think we have all the answers – cultivate.

When we’re filled with fear and anxiety and don’t think we can get out of bed – cultivate.

Cultivating our soil – our hearts, minds and souls – is how we become stronger in all areas of our lives. It’s how we prepare for a bountiful harvest in the fall.

It’s no secret: if you don’t work the soil to put nutrients back into the ground, you won’t receive anything of worth in return.

Let’s buckle down, rise up and cultivate our soil.

We won’t regret it.

As we all know, there is only a finite number of times we will play rounds of golf, go into the office or bound down a flight of stairs as fast as we can.

There will become a time when we do these things for the last time. Either because of our age and we’re not physically capable of doing them, because we will close the chapter on that part of our lives or we will pass from this earth.

The point being, we’re all on this earth for a certain amount of time and we have no idea when that is going to end. Because of that, let’s make sure our words to others’ are the right ones coming from a place of Love.

The idea of this comes from a story I heard about a young Jewish girl and her little brother on the train to Auschwitz. They had already been separated from their parents who they never saw again and shortly before arriving her little brother that was standing close in front of her told her that he had lost his shoes. She looked down to see that he indeed had no shoes on his feet. She laid into him verbally about how stupid could he be to lose his shoes and how careless he was, etc.

When the train arrived, she was separated from her little brother never to see him again. And those were the last words she ever spoke to him.

After surviving the camp, she vowed to herself she would never say anything to another person where she couldn’t live with herself if she was never to see them again.

Strong last words. Last words indeed.

Why not make this a day of Love for everyone to benefit from, not just lovers?

Why not tell someone special in your life that you Love them and truly want what’s best for them?

Why not show a total stranger some Love by letting them cut in front of you in traffic, buy the coffee for the person behind you in the drive-thru or compliment someone as you wait in line at the grocery store about their outfit?

Why not?

Why not drop our defenses and fill ourselves with a little more Love in everything we do today?

Why not?

Why not find a way to tell someone you Love how much they mean to you on the phone or in person at lunch today?

Why not?

Just for today.

Happy Valentine’s Day!