TOMORROW

Motto: Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday (Author Unknown)

Every time I listen to Ronan Keating singing “If tomorrow never comes”, he manages to impress me. Today I also listened to the original – Garth Brooks. The sound is very different and I will not tell you here which one I like best, because what I want today is to focus only on its exceptional message. It is perhaps one of the most important learning – for all motivational speakers, priests, philosophers and any other wise people. It is about sharing our feelings with our loved ones, so that we do not live with the regret of not doing so, after we lose them. It is part selfish and part altruistic, but it is a great message anyway.

(you can read the lyrics here: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/ronankeating/iftomorrownevercomes.html )

The first thing that comes to my mind when I listen to it is... dying. We are alive today but could be dead tomorrow. Of course this will eventually happen anyway; therefore I conclude that the song is actually about only one day in everyone’s life - the day before we die.

Next I listen to Sting - Fragile. And Bono/U2 – It’s a beautiful day. And I realize how wrong I am (again!). It is not about death. It is not even about love (or better say not only about love). It is about the uncertainty of tomorrow and the one of the most foolish choices that we make so frequently – postponing sharing our inner feelings with the most important people in our lives. It is at the same time about postponing doing important things today, because we believe that tomorrow is another day – always! Sometimes this “tomorrow” attitude may turn into postponing our lives altogether.

We are used to take tomorrow for granted. Of course tomorrow is usually there, but not always and not necessarily THAT tomorrow which we expect. For the couple in the song, it could happen that at a certain point they just split up. And then their tomorrow will not come. They could be very much alive individually, but “THEY” will not be alive tomorrow. It should not mean that they shouldn’t share their feelings today.

Similar things happen with families - kids grow and go away. Childhood friends and adult relationships also come and go. Some of them stay for a lifetime, but those are only a few. By this coming and going of people and feelings through our lives, our past builds up - day by day. It can be a past full of hidden secrets and general suspicion, or it can be a past filled with sharing and living our feelings to the fullest (or should I say to the best of our abilities…).

Sometimes a strange version of tomorrow comes and we wish we would have said and done things differently before. It can be either way – we wish we have said and done more, or we wish we have said and done less. Sometimes the best decision is not to say anything at all. There is no universal recipe for wisdom; it is a daily trial and error exercise.

For my today, tomorrow is Sunday. I see a nice weather forecast and I believe I will go to a beautiful place in Wachau. I plan to enjoy the sun and the unique combination of spring greens, smell the fresh air and come back to the next tomorrow. That will be a Monday - working day, meaning deadlines and people, followed by evening going out and relaxing night. Then Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Work, eat and breathe (very important – you should not skip this 2!), relax and enjoy myself, love and be loved, miss some and reminisce about some of the loved ones, sleep - each day in different ratios. On Friday I then fly home - to Bucharest. Hopefully land in time to go to a restaurant where good friends will be waiting for me and one of my dearest friends will be singing that very night.

It looks like I have it all figured out already, right? That is why I am actually sure that something will manage to surprise me next week. I cannot tell you what it will be, as I have absolutely no idea - of course... I only pray to God it will be a nice surprise!

As I started with lyrics of a song, I will end with the lyrics of another song – Sting’s Shape of my heart. The cards are as unpredictable as our tomorrows - so many combinations possible; you never know what you get (unless you cheat!). Still, you can design strategies and make the best of the game, with the cards that you are dealt.

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/sting/shapeofmyheart.html

I wish you a nice tomorrow – hope you get a Royal Flush!

Georgina Popescu