You Make Today Better

You make today better.

Have you heard those words today? If not, now you have. You make today better. Your life and your story matter. You are important and loved and you belong.

You make today better. Those four words are the To Write Love on Her Arms organization’s theme for this year’s National Suicide Prevention Week (this week!) and World Suicide Prevention Day (yesterday!). TWLOHA wants to spread these words far and wide to remind everyone of their great inherent worth in this world and in this life.

You make today better. At first glance, these words may seem simple. However, if you really reflect on them, you will soon realize that there is power in these words. Power to change someone’s perspective, to give them hope, to show them their worth, to remind them that they are loved. I love these words and it is my goal to share them with as many people as possible.

You make today better. That is the truth. Because you are YOU, this day is better because you are living and breathing and existing in this world. Sometimes you may feel this, sometimes you may have a hard time hearing or believing it, but it is ALWAYS true. Even on your worst days, when everything goes wrong, you make today better.

On the days where the world seems dark, where life seems dark, and you wonder if it’s even worth getting out of bed...you make today better.

When you yell at your kids in frustration or get mad at your dog for wanting attention or say something you wish you could take back to someone that you love...you still make today better.

On a day when you feel like your to-do list is a mile long and that no matter how hard you work or what you do, nothing feels good enough, you don’t feel good enough...you still make today better.

Even when you are exhausted and feel as if no one sees you or appreciates you or recognizes all the things that you do each day...you still make today better.

You see, no matter how many mistakes you make, how happy or sad or anxious or overwhelmed or stressed or excited you may feel about the plethora of interactions and happenings the day brings...you make today better.

Your existence on this Earth makes a difference. Regardless of whether you know it or not, you are someone’s light. You are someone’s favorite person. Seeing your face or seeing your name pop up on a phone or hearing your voice or reading your words in a card will make someone happy today. Even your smallest interactions with people are positively impacting someone’s life right at this moment. Your smile, small act of kindness, or time investment in someone’s day made a difference. You would be missed if you were not here. You make today better.

You with all your quirks, and interests, and passions, are so perfectly imperfect. There is no one that can take your place, no one that can play your part, no one else that can love the way you love, no one else that can adequately fill the place that you are meant to fill in this world other than you. The way you see the world and the things that you are passionate about, the way that you love the people you love the most, the way that you know how to make your friends laugh or how to cheer up your coworker or where to scratch your dog in that perfect spot or the fact that you always know the right candy to bring your significant other on a bad day, or just know when your best friend needs a funny snap to brighten their day and all the other countless things you do for people on a daily basis. Only YOU can so perfectly do those things. You make today better and you also make the people you love’s todays better too.

I believe that people don’t hear these things enough. We get so busy and caught up in the busy-ness of daily life that we forget to tell the people that we love and appreciate just how much we love and appreciate them. We are positively impacted by people on a daily basis. It could be big things, but it can also be the little things like the guy who always holds the door open for you in the mornings when you stop at Casey’s for coffee or for the person who lets you in when you’re stuck in traffic. We are constantly interacting with people; therefore, we are constantly impacting people’s lives and people are impacting ours.

We all have a role to play. We are all so, so, so important not only to the people in our lives, but to all the other human beings we coexist with in this world. It may be hard to remember on our worst days, but we are making today better for someone, or likely, many someones.

So do me a favor, and reach out to someone. Tell them what you appreciate about them. Thank them. Remind them that they are important. Tell them how much they mean to you. Tell them that they make today better. Because they do and sometimes it’s nice to have a little reminder.

As for you, yes, you. If someone hasn’t told you today, I want to tell you that you matter. Your story is important. You belong. You are someone's favorite. You have a part to play. You make someone happy. You are loved.

You make today better. 🧡