There Are Only So Many Tomorrows by Shari Alyse

How many times have you said to yourself, “I’ll do it tomorrow” or have you promised yourself that you would start again tomorrow? (Guilty!) The funny thing about tomorrows is that they never seem to come. There always seems to be something that we are waiting for. Some perfect moment, some things to align, some…something. I know for myself that I made a lot of promises awaiting that tomorrow.

I spent a good portion of my life putting off things with excuses that certain things had to line up. I never really took the opportunity to look at what I did have. I never really took the opportunity to celebrate the moments in my life because I was too busy looking ahead at what I wanted or what I thought I lacked. Wishing that I was famous and successful and all that ever did was make me feel badly that I wasn’t. I spent so much time wishing for other things that I ended up losing sight of what I did have and then realized how important and special all that was to me once I lost it.

Until one day, I finally learned that there are only so many “tomorrows.”

I believe we have all heard that statement (or some version of it) throughout our lives, and yet, in my travels and opportunities to connect with so many people over the years, I have discovered that we don’t really think about the deeper meaning within those words. For most of us, it becomes just another inspirational meme we see plastered all over social media and until we unfortunately lose something or someone important, we finally begin to understand the true depth of that statement. My greatest hope is that you don’t have to experience any sort of loss or regret in your life for it to sink in. So, I thought I would share with you what that statement means to me and tips on how to live your greatest life NOW!

For me, it screams, “Jump in the game!”

“Love who you are!”

“Love who you’re with!”

Appreciate the challenges, the bumps, the bruises, the beauty, blessings, and milestones. Appreciate all the “no’s” you’ve heard in life because it’s made you strive for what you really want and made you realize what is truly important. It’s also allowed you to see that you are still capable of surviving in spite of getting what you think you want.

Appreciate the “yes’s” as those were confirmations that you were on the right path, that you were following your gut and listening closely to the whispers leading you.

There are only so many tomorrows.

Be present to it all. Stop and notice the people, places and things around you as they are all teachers, lessons and blessings along your journey. Be aware of what you are feeling. When you are present to those feelings, you are honoring yourself by giving yourself the space and freedom to feel what you feel and those feelings are guideposts for you in your life.

Say thank you! And say it again. Say it all day long. Shout it from the rooftops. Every single movement you make, every breath you take, every clear thought you have, are things to be grateful for. We so often don’t realize what we have unless it’s taken from us. Don’t wait for that.

Stop hiding. Stop playing small. Stop thinking that you aren’t good enough to show up in this world. You were born and that is reason enough to stand out. That is reason enough to hold your head up high. Remaining tightly in your bud robs the world (me and you) of the beautiful gifts you’ve been brought here to share. The world needs you. I need you.

There are only so many tomorrows.

Smile more! Laugh more! Be silly! Eat ice cream for breakfast, roll down a lush green hill, stay up till dawn laughing with your girlfriends, buy those ridiculously priced shoes that you really do love, and eat on your fine china every day!

Go after your dream. I mean, your real dream. The one that keeps you up at night. The one that you most likely think you have no chance of achieving but nags at you consistently because it is your true passion. Yes, that one. Don’t spend your entire life making excuses as to why you can’t. Just do it. Your soul will thank you for it. So will all your loved ones because you will be the most beautiful person to spend time around.

Forgive yourself. Yes, right now. Forgive yourself the times that you didn’t show up for yourself. The times you didn’t believe in yourself, weren’t kind to yourself and certainly not compassionate towards yourself. Forgive yourself as not one of us is perfect and why spend another day being unkind to the person you spend the most time with.

There are only so many tomorrows.

Love crazily and wildly! Don’t hold back your feelings because you are afraid somebody won’t return them. The gift isn’t in being loved, the gift is loving. The gift is being able to FEEL and experience that unbelievable swirling of love moving through every cell in your body. The gift is the realization that loving is simply enough and realizing that your happiness and fulfillment in life is not dependent on how others feel about you but rather about how you well you loved.

Accept your worth.

Learn your value.

Don’t settle for anything lower than you deserve. Ever.

No explanation needed here.

Accept yourself. All of yourself. Every curve, every imperfection and every perceived flaw. Look deeply into the depths of your soul through those gorgeous eyes of yours and accept the magnificence reflecting back at you. That is you. Beautiful and brilliant YOU. Breathtaking.

There are only so many tomorrows.

My grandfather used to tell me to get my head out of the clouds as he wanted me to be more practical and think more practically. He was what he would call a realist. I think he was a survivalist. Put in an orphanage from a young age dealing with physical and verbal abuse there until he was old enough at 18 to get out on his own. He then created his own thriving business, married and lived a life of always thinking ahead and doing the next practical thing to plan for the future. I believe he often forgot a lot about these things I’ve spoken about above. What gives me great solace, however, and what has driven me throughout most of my life is that when my grandfather was facing his end, he spoke to me only about loving, living, and being happy and nothing about planning, saving and being practical.

You see, I believe the greatest lesson he was trying to teach me was that there are only so many tomorrows so better get to living NOW. He forever changed the way that I saw and experienced each day of my life and made me realize that this very moment, as it is, is more than enough. Make your today’s the very best and most beautiful they can be.

There are only so many tomorrows.

Shari Alyse is the Joy Magnet - a Motivational Speaker, Truth Coach, Author and the Co-Founder of The Wellness Universe. Shari's mission in this world is to have you awaken to YOU. To your beauty, your magnificence and your inner joy! Shari currently lives in Los Angeles with her long-term partner, John, and their cats, Hershey and Piper. 
www.ShariAlyse.com 
www.TheWellnessUniverse.com