“Today is the first day of the rest of my life.”

This saying was on a plaque on a wall in our house growing up, and I know I read this often enough to take it in. Sometimes, it’s the first line I write in my morning pages, and it gives me this feeling of hope and excitement in my chest like I’m about to conquer this day and do something outstanding.

Other times, I use the line to procrastinate, to put off things until tomorrow — the next “first day.”

I say to myself, “Oh, tomorrow’s another day I can start anew. I’ll just relax today. I’m not in the mood. I’ll do it tomorrow when I feel better/have more energy/get in the right frame of mind/am not so tired.”

So many days, day after day, wasted for no good reason. I’m just like a hamster on a wheel, going nowhere fast.

But then again, I’ve also had some pretty productive consecutive days where I get a lot done — I wake up early, get to bed early, write my morning pages, meditate, I read more than one page of a book, get a workout in, write some pieces, clean up around the house, do something outdoors with the kids, get through my online classes.

Maybe I just need to be more consistent and be productive regularly?

Or maybe I should also have a regular day now and then where I say, “Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life.”