Og Mandino (for the Rest of My Life)

For the Rest of My Life . . .

For the rest of my life there are two days that will never again trouble me. The first day is yesterday with all its blunders and tears, its follies and defeats. Yesterday has passed forever bye my control. The other day is tomorrow with its pitfalls and threats, its dangers and mystery. Until the sun rises again, I have no stake in tomorrow, for it is still unborn. With God's help and only one day to concentrate all my effort and energy on, this day, I can win! Only when I add the burden of those two frightening eternities, yesterday and tomorrow, am I in danger of faltering under the load. Never again! This is my day! This is my only day! Today is all there is! Today is the rest of my life and I resolve to conduct myself through every waking hour in the following manner. . . . For the rest of my life, this very special day, God help me . . . to heed the wise advice of Jesus and Confucius and Zoroaster and treat me. To maintain a rein on my tongue and my temper, guarding against foolish moments of faultfinding and insults. To greet all those I encounter with a smile instead of a frown, and a soft word of encouragement instead of disdain or even worse, silence. To be sympathetic and attentive to the sorrows and struggles of others, realizing that there are hidden woes in every life no matter how exalted or lowly. To make haste to be kind to all others, understanding that life is too short to be vengeful or malicious, too soon ended to be petty or unkind. For the rest of my life, this very special day, God help me. To keep reminding myself that in order to harvest more ears of corn in the fall, I must plant more kernels in the spring. To understand that life always rewards me on the terms that I establish, and if I never perform or deliver more than that for which I am paid, never will I have reason to demand or expect and additional gold. To always deliver more than is expected of me, whether at work, at play, or