Poet: Unknown
TODAY —
Mend a quarrel.
Search out a forgotten friend.
Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust.
Write a love letter.
Share some treasure.
Give a soft answer.
Encourage youth.
Manifest your loyalty in a word or a deed.
TODAY—
Keep a promise.
Find the time.
Forego a grudge.
Forgive an enemy.
Listen.
Apologize if you were wrong.
Try to understand.
Flout envy.
Examine your demands on others.
Think first of someone else.
Appreciate, be kind, be gentle.
Laugh a little more.
TODAY—
Deserve confidence.
Take up arms against malice.
Decry complacency.
Express your gratitude.
Worship your God.
Gladden the heart of a child.
Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth.
Speak it again.
Speak it still again.
Speak it still once again.
A New Day Poem
Poet: Catherine Pulsifer
Live in the present, do not let it pass
Don’t neglect this moment and brood upon the past.
Cherish what we have now, instead of longing for tomorrow
Savour life’s wonders and make it your life’s mission to follow.
Life may be short or time may drag on an age
Its true treasures are found only if viewed from this one sage:
Put away the worries, live anew with each day
Seize the joy of the day and live in every way!
A Life Well Lived Poem
by Sybil F. Patridge
Just for Today I will be happy.
This assumes that what Abraham Lincoln said is true, that "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." Happiness is from within; it is not a matter of externals.
Just for Today I will adjust myself to what Is,
and not try to adjust everything to my own desires. I will take my family, my business, and my luck as they come, and fit myself to them.
Just for Today I will take care of my body.
I will exercise it, care for it, and nourish it, and not abuse it nor neglect it; so that it will be a perfect machine for my will.
Just for Today I will try to strengthen my mind, I will study.
I will learn something useful, I will not be a mental loafer all day. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration.
Just for Today I will exercise my soul. In three ways.
I will do somebody a good turn and not get found out. I will do at least two things I don’t want to do, as William James suggests just for exercise.
Just for Today I will be agreeable.
I will look as well as I can, dress as becomingly as possible, talk low, act courteously, be liberal with flattery, criticize not one bit nor find fault with anything, and not try to regulate nor improve anybody.
Just for Today I will try to live through this day only.
Not to tackle my whole life problem at once. I can do things for twelve hours that would appall me if I had to keep them up for a lifetime.
Just for Today I will have a program.
I will write down just what I expect to do every hour. I may not follow it exactly, but I’ll have it. It will save me from the two pests of hurry and indecision.
Just for Today I will have a quiet half hour, all by myself, and relax.
During this half hour, some time, I will think of God, so as to get a little more perspective of my life.
Just for Today I will be unafraid.
Especially I will not be afraid to be happy, to enjoy what is beautiful, to love and to believe that those I love, love me.
Poet: Catherine Pulsifer, © 2020
When life seems overwhelming
Move beyond that feeling
Don't let your thoughts go array
Just focus on the day.
When tomorrow seems unsure
Don't worry, but be reassured
Today you are okay
Just focus on the day.
When your goals seem too high to climb
Remember to take one step at a time
That will move you in the right way
Just focus on today.
Remember no matter the challenges you face
You have a purpose, you have a place
Start your day, take time to pray
Remember, just focus on today.
Poems of Encouragement
Poet: Julie Hebert, © 2015
Starting today,
I've made up my mind.
Not changing it now,
You'll soon come to find.
Starting today,
I will do what I must.
To get what I want,
Myself, I must trust.
Starting today,
I'll see myself change.
At first, it may seem,
A little bit strange.
But starting today,
I will feel really good.
I will hold my head high,
No longer misunderstood.
Poet: Catherine Pulsifer
Today choose to be happy, the key to success
Set your sights on possibilities, let go of any stress.
Leave the past in the past, and let go of sorrow
Take life's challenge today, from tomorrow never borrow.
Look at life in a positive way with intent
Clinging to every moment, missing no event.
Leave tomorrow to tomorrow and never stay behind
Make today a good day, a day you design.
Life Choices Poems
Poet: Ella Wheeler Wilcox
One looks behind him to some vanished time
And says, "Ah, I was happy then, alack!
I did not know it was my life's best prime -
Oh, if I could go back !"
Another looks, with eager eyes aglow,
To some glad day of joy that yet will dawn,
And sighs, "I shall be happy then, I know.
Oh, let me hurry on."
But I - I look out on my fair Today;
I clasp it close and kiss its radiant brow,
Here with the perfect present let me stay,
For I am happy now!
Good Morning Poems
Poet: Mary Lowe Dickinson
We would fill the hours with the sweetest things
If we had but a day;
We should drink alone at the purest springs
In our upward way;
We should love with a lifetime's love in an hour
If the hours were few;
We should rest not for dreams, but for fresher power
To be and to do.
We should guide our wayward or wearied wills
By the clearest light;
We should keep our eyes on the heavenly hills
If they lay in sight;
We should trample the pride and the discontent
Beneath our feet;
We should take whatever a good God sent,
With a trust complete.
We should waste no moments in weak regret
If the day were but one;
If what we remember and what we forget
Went out with the sun;
We should be from our clamorous selves set free
To work and to pray,
And to be what the Father would have us to be,
If we had but a day.
Just For Today Quotes
Poet: Mary Frances Butts
I will not look along the years
And try to trace my future way,
I only need to see my path
For this one day.
O Thou who art my life, my hope.
Who art each weak heart's strength and stay.
Help me to live within the line
That bounds today.
Then loving with Thy patient love
That waits to lift and heal away.
My heart can hold no thought, no wish.
Beyond today.
Poet: Samuel Wilberforce
Lord, for tomorrow and its needs
I do not pray;
Keep me, my God, from stain of sin
Just for today.
Let me both diligently work
And duly pray;
Let me be kind in word and deed
Just for today.
Let me be slow to do my will,
Prompt to obey;
Help me to sacrifice myself
Just for today.
Let me no wrong or idle word
Unthinkingly say;
Set Thou a seal upon my lips
Just for today.
Let me in season, Lord, be grave,
In season gay;
Let me be faithful to Thy grace
Just for today.
Lord, for tomorrow and its needs
I do not pray;
But keep me, guide me, love me. Lord,
Just for today.
Prayer For Today
Poet: Myra Goodwin Planz
Just for today; tomorrow is not mine
And may be spent where days unclouded shine.
This cross is heavy for an upward way,
My weak hands tremble give me strength today.
Just for today; the poorest child am I
That heaven-ward looks, yet ravens when they cry
Receive Thy bounty, though despised are they;
Remember, then, this lowly heart today.
Just for today; Thy manna food I ask
That I may go rejoicing to my task,
And if from cooling streams my feet should stray,
Let some rock prove a fountain for today.
Just for today; it is much better so;
I might grow arrogant did I not know
My poverty, yet find it sweet to say:
"It is Thy gift, the blessings of today."
Just for today; what more can heart demand
From one who will each longing understand?
Thy love withholds no treasure, so I pray:
"Choose what may come, but give me strength today."
Poems About Strength
Poet: Unknown
We shall do so much in the year to come,
But what have we done today?
We shall give our gold in a princely sum,
But what did we give today?
We shall lift the heart and dry the tear,
We shall plant a hope in the place of fear;
We shall speak the words of love and cheer,
But what did we speak today?
We shall be so kind in the afterwhile,
But what have we been today?
We shall bring to each lonely life a smile,
But what have we brought today?
We shall give to truth a grander birth
And to steadfast faith a deeper worth;
We shall feed the hungering souls of earth,
But whom have we fed today?
We shall reap such joys in the by and by,
But what have we sown today?
We shall build up mansions in the sky,
But what have we built today?
'Tis sweet in the idle dreams to bask,
But here and now do we do our task?
Yes; this is the thing our souls must ask -
"What have we done today?"
