TGIF, or Thank God it's Friday a common phrase used by people all over for decades to signify the beginning of the weekend and some rest and relaxation, although that is rarely the case. As human beings we divide our time into neat little packages to quantify our life cycles. We have taken up the habit of naming decades, generations and some cultures have a name for each year not only to quantify, but qualify it as well. The truth is time is but a construct we developed to define our reality and our march through life.

  We should be happy for every day. As opposed to TGIF we should say TGIT, or That God it's Today! Thank whomever, or whatever you please, but have some gratitude. We are given many gifts throughout life. Some material, some emotional and some are intangible little things that we rarely notice. Each day is a gift and each new day is precious. For many people yesterday was their last day on this Earth and in this reality. As yet we only have faith in what we believe to be waiting for us after death. Do not concern yourself with death. You have no control over it. We can take steps to minimize our exposure to death, we can minimize our risk to avoid the possibility, but eventually it is another gift we will receive.

  Time is our most precious commodity. Time, we have found, is relative to space and distance as well. We measure time and distance with interchangeable phrases. When asked how far away a place is we may answer in hours, or we sometimes answer in distance as well because we all have an innate sense of the relative nature of space and time. Distance is just another description of space. It is the time interval between two points in space. We cannot however measure the distance between our birth and death in any other way than time. Or can we?

  We measure our lives with milestones. Birth, school is measured in increments, marriage, child rearing, grandchildren and career changes are many ways in which we quantify our passage through time. How do you measure the distance between your birth and death? I choose not to. I am making a conscious effort not to measure, or quantify my past, or my future. I no longer say "when I retire..." or when I have grandchildren...". I am going to reside firmly in today and the now. I remember the past, but I do not live in it. I consider the future and prepare for some things, but I do not anticipate anything. In anticipating an event we create it, good or bad if you think about it often enough and hard enough it will come to pass.

  Today is what we have and today is the greatest gift we can ever receive. Another chance to live well, be happy and treat those around us with kindness respect and gratitude for being part of our lives. Stay in each moment today as it arrives. Do not dwell on someone that just passed through your day trying to harsh your gig. Truth is you probably went unnoticed to them and were not given a moments consideration. Be grateful and happy and try to be a shining example to those around you. This day is yours, a gift from the universe and time. Use it wisely, it may be your last, or it may be the beginning of a spectacular chapter in life. Seize it, grab it by the horns as I vow to do, starting over, over 50.