Free Crab Tomorrow
There’s a national seafood chain called Joe’s Crab Shack which, among other things, is known for the message they paint on their buildings: “Free Crab Tomorrow!” Before you get too excited about it, let me just warn you, it’s nothing more than a brilliant play on words…when you come back tomorrow, it says the same thing. And by then, it’s not tomorrow anymore, it’s just today. “Tomorrow” never comes, and you always have to pay for your crab.
I thought of this as I was thinking through a powerful message found in the lines of a Switchfoot song. “This is your life, are you who you wanna be?” “Today is all you’ve got now, and today is all you’ll ever have.” These lines keep running through my head, and I’m realizing more and more just how true they really are.
This concept really hits home to me right now because, believe it or not, 2011 is almost over, and we have a new year starting in just a few weeks. Like many other Americans do, I am taking this time to think about where I am in life, where I really want to be, and how to get there, especially over the course of next year.
A year ago, I was doing the same thing. There were changes I wanted in my life…some small, some much bigger. Two of the smaller changes I wanted to make were that I wanted to start both journaling and working out on a daily basis. I know that the working out fizzled sometime in February. Looking at my journal, it survived longer, but my daily entries there died out in April. And some of the bigger changes? They are still there, waiting to be fully made. I’ve made some minor progress towards them, but not enough.
“This is your life, are you who you wanna be?” And the answer is no. So what am I going to do about it? Wait until January 1, set some new resolutions, and hope they last longer?
“Today is all you’ve got now, and today is all you’ll ever have.” If I wait until tomorrow, I’ll never make any changes. Today is all I have. Obviously, for more major changes, one day is not always enough. But one day is always enough to make that next step, that next incremental part of the major change.
What about you? “This is your life, are you who you wanna be?” If not, what are you going to do about it? “Today is all you’ve got now, and today is all you’ll ever have.” What can you do today to start becoming who you wanna be?
*Addendum* After posting this, some of the first words I heard coming through my car stereo were from another Switchfoot song.
“Today will soon be gone, like yesterday is gone, like history is gone…it’s going, going, gone.”
“Today is all you’ve got now, and today is all you ever have.” And we don’t have it long. Let’s make the most of it!
Wow, thanks for the great word Jason! Such a great reminder! God bless you, buddy!