Lyman Abbot, an American Congregationalist minister, once said that “a child is beam of sunlight from the Infinite and Eternal, with possibilities of virtue and vice, but as yet unstained.” There is a truth to this quote that stems from the effortless way in which children understand some things that adults fail to grasp. One of the things children do best is the art of not worrying. The art of blindly living each day in the moment.

Have you ever considered all the things we could have worried about as kids? I could have stressed myself out about if I would make friends in junior high and high school. Will I make the cheerleading team? Will I get the standardized test scores I need to get into college? Where will I even go to college and how will I pay for it? These questions were all valid and could reasonably cause worry. I did not worry though, and yet I have passed each one of those potential downfalls in my life and been just fine.

I thank my younger self for enjoying each day. For being a kid. For playing outside, making friends, spending time with my parents, reading books and not even thinking to concern myself with the infinite unknowns of tomorrow.

I challenge myself today to remember the little girl who was wiser in some ways than I am today. By enabling myself to be fully present today, I give myself the freedom to enjoy my current circumstances and gain experience that I will need in the future.

Tomorrow will come anyway. Be present today.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life… Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

Matthew 6: 25,27