"Tomorrow is canceled"

Tonight, I was telling a friend on-line that my class tomorrow got canceled, and she thought I said "tomorrow got canceled." Which got me thinking...

What would happen to my life, my routines, my plans if tomorrow was canceled? What would happen if a whole 24 hours was taken from me?

Well for starters, I'd be screwed for the class discussion on the Yuan Shih-Kai Presidency that I was suppose to lead the day after tomorrow. I was planning on using tomorrow to finish all the assigned readings and conjure up a fine looking list of discussion questions. Instead, I will have to squeeze that all in tonight. Tomorrow was suppose to be my day off from my internship. Now that it is canceled, I will have to wake up early and go to work on top of preparing for my class discussions. If tomorrow was canceled, I would miss out on the meeting with Paulo Pinheiro on protecting children from violence. I also would not be able to get that haircut that I was planning to get.

Enough about me. What about other people? If tomorrow got canceled, how will it affect them? For President Obama and the person writing his State of the Union Address, they would be in trouble. I read that it was still being written, but all of the sudden the speech needs to be ready. What about people who were suppose to be married tomorrow? Or born? Well, too bad for them. Gotta skip that part.

It's ridiculous isn't it? Thinking about tomorrow being canceled. But how often do I live today wishing that tomorrow was canceled because of something that was happening that I've been dreading? Something that I don't want to deal with? Some ordeal that I would rather skip over and move on to the next day?

Or worst, how often do I live in such a way that tomorrow gets canceled. An hour wasted on Facebook, an afternoon idled away doing pointless things. Plans get postponed, tasks get bumped back, appointments are rescheduled. Soon days, weeks, months, or even years of my life...all wasted or canceled.

Someone wise once said something along the lines of "Live today as if you are going to die tomorrow." I don't think that means we go out, party hard, and try to do all those things we've always wanted to do before we die within a 24 hour period. Rather, I think it means make today count and live it to its full potential. Don't worry about what will happen tomorrow, nor count on it to make up for time wasted today. Every person, no matter who you are, is given the same 24 hours each day, but how we spend it depends much on our attitude of tomorrow, or more importantly, our attitude on life. Do I live today wishing tomorrow was canceled? Or as if it was already canceled? Or can I live today with a sense of purpose and fulfillment so that it doesn't matter if I die tomorrow or if tomorrow got canceled?