Make Today Count (And Don’t Worry About Tomorrow)

Back in April, I participated in a track meet that taught me two important lessons at once.

At this meet, I had qualified for the invitational heat (the fastest heat) in both the 1600 and the 800, the two events that I chose to enter. Making the invitational heat had been my goal, but it also made me nervous, since I would have to face high-level competition.

All week, I stressed about this meet. The night before, I struggled to fall asleep. My nerves made even eating into a challenge.

While running my warmup on the field, I felt as if I were carrying a heavy brick on my chest. As I ran those warmup laps, I saw the sky turn darker and the city lights turn brighter. I felt the bitter wind turn even colder.

And I prayed.

But my nerves just wouldn’t go away. I couldn’t bring myself to give the situation to God.

The stress ultimately prevented me from running my best. In a panic, I ran the first lap faster than I intended, and the feeling of that metaphorical brick weighed me down for the next three laps. Every lap got slower. My distressed mind failed to focus.

I finished that race knowing that I hadn’t done my best work. My finishing time was alright, but not the time that I had wanted.

After this 1600, I knew that I had to move onto my next event. As I prepared for my 800, I received a little word of motivation:

“Make today count.”

Hearing those three words lit a competitive spark in me. I still had a chance. Today was a gift, and it wasn’t too late to make the most of it.

Only it didn’t exactly go as planned. Long story short, the events were starting ahead of schedule, and I ended up missing my heat of the 800.

I stood on the field, not with that metaphorical brick of anxiety on my chest, but with the crushing realization that I wasn’t going to get my second chance to “make today count.”

How could that be it? I had been stressing about this meet all week, only to end up completing one wash of an event–

But God had other plans.

He took my embarrassing mistake of missing the 800 to teach me important lessons, and He did so by giving me a third chance.

My coach managed to get me a last-minute entry into the invitational heat of the 3200. Last-minute entries can’t normally happen at these track invitationals, but my coach explained my situation to the meet directors, and my previous 3200 time was enough to get me in.

Because the entry was so last-minute, I only had a few minutes to prepare for this event.

Really, it was a blessing in disguise. I had no time to stress about it.

The heavy brick was gone.

Instead, I burned with the determination to make the day count. To make it count despite that wash of a 1600 and that missed 800.

Pair that with the thrill of the stadium lights at night and the hype of the music blasting over the speakers, and I had the most fun I’ve ever had while running a 3200.

I found my focus again, my confidence again, my joy again. Nearly all eight of my laps had even splits. My final time was a season record and the fastest 3200 I had done in two years.

And I also finished with a third-place medal to commemorate this rollercoaster of a day.

Had I participated in the 800 like I had planned, I know I wouldn’t have placed in the top three. Had I finished the 1600 with the time that I had planned, I know I wouldn’t have placed in the top three.

But in the 3200, the event that I hadn’t planned on doing, I placed in the top three.

Here God reminded me that He always has a better plan. Wow, God really does work it all out in the end, I remember thinking as I stood on the field again, 3200 behind me.

I want to run every race like that 3200, without the time to overthink about my fears, with only the motivation to make the day count.

The experience inspired me to take life one day at a time. James 4:14 implies that each day is a gift.

“You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”

~ James 4:14, ESV

And if each day is a gift, I can’t let myself waste a whole week stressing about a tomorrow that rests out of my control.

In Matthew 6:34, Jesus tells us not to be anxious about tomorrow, for each day is enough in itself.

“Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

~ Matthew 6:34, ESV

And if each day is enough itself, the only way to truly “make today count” is to focus on that day alone.

There’s a reason why the author of that now-known maxim “Carpe diem” (“seize the day”) continued his original poem with the advice to trust in tomorrow as little as possible (“quam minimum credula postero,” Horace, Book 1, Ode 11). The truth even comes out in the Pagan writings. We can’t trust tomorrow, but as Christians, we can trust the God who holds it.

Instead of worrying about tomorrow, focus on today.

After all, today is enough in itself.

Focus on today and realize that God will work it all out in the end. He is a God of second–and third–chances.

And His plan is always better than our own.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed, subscribe to my mailing list here.