Tomorrow is Never Promised

I experienced one of the scariest moments of my life last week.

I decided to take a day off to go fly fishing in the Cascades to spiritually and mentally recharge. What was supposed to be a nice day in the mountains, quickly turned into a great reminder of what it means to be present and lead a truly grateful life.

I was struggling leading up to my fishing trip to find much of anything to be grateful for, let alone the current moment. It was in my befuddled haze that I made a very critical mistake when wading into the river.

Rather than check the under current and depth of the river with a stick of some sorts, I just dove in, quite literally head first. Within an instant I went from dry to neck deep in water. I misjudged everything, from the depth to the current.

My waders quickly filled with water, and the current started to drag me down river. I reached out to the rock next to me as I desperately scrambled to grab on to anything near me and slipped off. That’s when the real panic and fear started to set in. I was alone, no cell service, and no one knew where I was.

However, by the grace of God, not much further down river from where I fell in. I was able to grab ahold of some bigger rocks along the bank and drag myself to safety. The conundrum I found myself in could’ve been so much worse, and I’m so incredibly thankful it wasn’t!

But, if I’m being absolutely honest. In the moment I was more furious at the fact that I lost a brand new fly rod, my phone ruined, my fishing trip over before it started, and sheer embarrassment over the mistake I made.

In the wake of my mishap, I realized that perhaps my trip was never about fishing & recharging in the first place. It was a great reminder, that the richness of life is best experienced in this present moment here and now.

Tomorrow is never promised, and yesterday has already past. Show me a man who’s grateful for today, and I’ll show you the richest man in the world!

Photo credit: Paula Maccomber