Tomorrow is a New Day

Not that long ago I was reading a book about healthy lifestyles. In my mind I was going to get thinner by exercising and dieting along with eating healthier as well as quitting smoking. I quickly realized that wasn’t just a mouthful to say at once, I had to break it down and do one or the other first. Taking on too much at once was only setting me up for failure. So I started with the no smoking goal.

I had been slowly cutting back without telling anyone for about two months. Then a very close friend of mine had to have unexpected open heart surgery. I smoked double! Although I’m not suggesting that you go out and smoke a ton of cigarettes, what I meant by this is that I felt like a failure because the stress had gotten to me and I had forgotten about my goal. Was I a failure? At the time I thought I was.

One of my friends reminded me, “Tomorrow is another day.” With a lot of support and encouragement, I started over again the next day and I am now down to under a pack of cigarettes a day.

The moral of the story is, no one is perfect. Everyday we battle with different struggles: meeting deadlines at work, cutting down or quitting smoking, losing weight, arguments with our significant other, etc. However, when we wake up the next morning, let the first thought that comes into your mind be, “I can do this today,” and if you can’t, let the second thought be, “Tomorrow is another day.” You are important and so are your goals. Don’t beat yourself up over things that you can’t necessarily change right away. In time, practice makes perfect. Good luck!

–Mary Beth Evans, Recovery Coordinator