“Yesterday’s shower isn’t going to keep you clean today”
Someone said this to me in a Narcotics Anonymous meeting a few years ago.
I sniggered at him.
Little did I know he had just imprinted some value on me that now allows me to develop each and every area of my life!
At the time, I didn’t understand what he had said, so it was easier for me to just dismiss him, than it was to accept I didn’t understand.
But what did he mean?
The penny didn’t drop until a few months later.
I realised that he wasn’t referring to personal hygiene…
He was referring to the work I had done on my recovery had only kept me clean yesterday, but if I wanted to STAY clean, it was something I had to work on every day.
This doesn’t just apply to recovery…
The message he was sharing was one of avoiding complacency by taking daily, consistent, action.
Up until this point, I, as well as a number of people reading this today, have probably felt a burst of motivation running through them at some point.
– Maybe it was to get fit in January…
– Maybe it was an idea for the next million dollar App…
– Maybe it was to hire a coach and work on yourself…
Whatever it was:
– You got excited
– Took some steps toward.
– and then stopped.
You started to tell yourself all sorts of stories about how:
“you’ve done way more than you’ve ever done before”
Or
“how hard you’ve worked up until now”
Or
Start to point the finger at Julie from Pilates and John from the pub, and continue to justify your inaction by pointing out how little they have done.
But here’s the message of this post.
Regardless of what you’ve done up until now?
It’s gone.
In the past.
Finished.
The only thing we ever really have control over is the present…
What we do RIGHT NOW…
Today!
Because if you don’t?
– A day comes a week.
– A week becomes a month.
– A month becomes a year.
…and then you’re left explaining yourself to Julie from Pilates and John from the pub about how you haven’t done that ‘thing’ you said you were going to do.
I’ve been there…
Frustrated because I keep realised I am back at the starting line, after seemingly taking numerous steps forward…
But now I’ve changed that behaviour.
By taking daily, consistent, action…
Ensuring I influence my future, my what I do ‘today’.
So I thank the anonymous man at the Narcotics Anonymous meeting for sharing a valuable lesson with me.
Yesterday’s shower isn’t going to keep me clean today.
…and today’s actions are going to move me closer to where I want to be tomorrow.
Are you showering today?
P.s – sorry, I couldn’t resist with the picture ?
