September 17, 2025
Sometimes the simplest ideas are the hardest to live by. Today’s Thought of the Day and Question of the Day hit me right in the middle of my morning coffee:
- Thought of the Day: Time is a beautiful gift.
- Question of the Day: Are you happy?
One makes me want to hold onto every second. The other makes me squirm a little, because it’s so easy to answer with autopilot. Together, they push me into that space between gratitude and honesty, which is exactly where today’s reflection lands.
Thought of the Day: Time is a Beautiful Gift
Time is the one gift no one can return, exchange, or extend. It just keeps unwrapping itself whether you’re paying attention or not. That’s a humbling reality. I’ve got three kids, and I swear they age in fast-forward. Yesterday, my son was born, today, he turned six.
My head spins when I think about everything big and small that has happened in the last six years.
When you realize time is a gift, it changes how you approach the day. Instead of waiting for “someday” to try something new, it pushes you toward today. I’ve had golf clubs that I haven’s swung since before Covid, gathering dust while I tell myself I’ll get back out there when life “slows down.” Newsflash: life doesn’t slow down. The best we can do is carve out a few intentional slices before they get swallowed by the routine.
That’s what I try to remind myself: time is already slipping past whether I’m wasting it or not. Might as well spend it on something worth remembering.
If you want more on this idea, I wrote about the importance of choosing your priorities in It’s About Choosing the Ultimate Goal Over the Immediate Goal.
Question of the Day: Are You Happy?
Here’s the part where I could say “yes” and move on. But the truth is, happiness is complicated. Am I happy? Some days, absolutely. Some days, I feel like happiness is hiding behind a pile of laundry and a clogged dishwasher filter.
But maybe that’s the point. Happiness isn’t a permanent state. It’s a collection of moments you notice if you’re paying attention. The sound of my kids laughing together when they think I’m not listening. The rare mornings I get the coffee-to-milk ratio just right. Even writing this post counts, it’s me pausing long enough to be honest with myself.
If your answer to this Question of the Day is “I don’t know,” you’re not broken. It might just mean you’re being honest. Happiness doesn’t need to be constant to be real. Sometimes it just shows up in little flashes, like fireflies on a summer night.
If this resonates, you might enjoy Be Careful What You Label as Failures where I explored how we mislabel things that might actually be growth moments. Happiness works the same way, we often mislabel it as something distant when it’s already close by.
Putting Them Together
Time being a gift and the question of whether you’re happy are connected. If you believe time is precious, then how you spend it becomes the most important decision you make every day. And if you’re not spending your time in ways that bring even tiny flickers of happiness, what’s the point?
It doesn’t mean you drop everything and move to a cabin in the woods (though most days that sounds great). It just means you become more aware of how much of your time is being spent on things that don’t matter versus the ones that do.
For me, writing these daily reflections isn’t just content, it’s my way of making sure I’m paying attention to the time I’ve been given. Because the honest answer to “Are you happy?” has a lot to do with how I choose to use the minutes that keep unwrapping themselves.
If you want another angle on this, check out When You Think You Are Too Old to Do Something New Remember You Will Never Be Younger Than You Are Right Now. It’s about acting before your “someday” becomes “never.”
Your Turn
So, are you happy? Or are you still figuring it out like the rest of us? Drop a comment below, I’d love to hear your honest answer.
And if you’d like a daily reminder to pause and reflect, join the email list and get each Thought of the Day and Question of the Day delivered straight to your inbox.