The timer on my outdoor lights was off. The lights came on too early in the afternoon and with the longer days of spring and summer, they needed to be set forward. Today, I did just that.

As I punched the numbers to move the clock forward, I thought what if I really could move my personal clock and skip a day or two, or even better, rewind my life by a day or two or three? Or what if I stopped the clock of my life at this perfect moment? I started to consider the options.
If I stopped the clock now, the day belonged to me. The beauty of the blue sky was mine. The sun with its first shower of light glimmering through the branches of the olive tree was mine. The sparrows nesting above my front door. All the birds in the trees. Even the neighbor’s cat stretched out on the front porch was mine. It was such an exhilarating moment. I considered stopping the world right there and making today go on forever. But, I love life. How would I know what I’d be missing tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after that if today was forever?

Next, I considered the option of rewinding my life. Certainly, the course of my life would be different if given the chance to apply all that I know now, to my life the way it was then. As tempting as it was, if I couldn’t do things perfectly the first time around, would I be able to do it right the second time? Or would I need a third time and a fourth? The more I thought about it, the more I rejected the idea. I am not one for perfection when it comes to the process of life. It’s not my style. After all, I’m the one who refused to go to my wedding rehearsal because “life is not a written script,” I said. As tempted as I was at the thought of being able to “right” the “wrongs” of some of the things that I did, and as much as I may want to get a chance to “right” the “wrongs”, everything that has happened in my life from events to people brings me to the place where I am right now. The events and choices I have made are woven together into a tapestry of intricate pattern that is my life. Assuming my life is a tapestry from start to finish, then like all stitchery, I have a wrong and a right side. If I turn the tapestry of my life thus far over to the “wrong” side, to the back where all the knots and adjoining threads are hidden, I see the beauty of redemption…a gradual decline of mixed up and messier threads as the tapestry of my life progresses over the years. The design on the back side (considered the “wrong” side) is slowly becoming less messy. And perhaps over time, the beauty of those random pieces of thread that work together will resemble the unique pieces of stitchery that, unless looked under extreme scrutiny, appear the same on the back as they do on the front. Nothing less than beautiful!

I finally got the clock right on the outdoor lights. I walked under the sparrows’ nest and through my front door and entered into real time. Today, like everyday is a new day. It is a day to do things right, make good choices and decide wisely. It is a day to live with joy. Everyday, without turning back time, I have the opportunity to clean my slate and make it count.

The next 24 hours was mine.