What to do today...

When one of my nieces recently posted the words "What to do today... hmm?" on Facebook, it made me think.

What to do today...

My suggestions are listed below:

• Take a walk. Take a brisk walk or take a leisurely walk, but take a walk. As you walk, notice -- really notice -- the things around you. Everything you see is unique to the time, place, and position of your eyes.  No one else will ever see it as you do.
• Breathe -- really breathe. Take the air deep into your lungs. Sample it as you would taste a fine wine. Identify the subtle hints of place and time. The smell of the air changes with the seasons, days, and hours.  Each breath is unique when you breathe it. Breathe, and savor.
• Dance in a sunbeam, in the rain, or in the snow. Dance to music only you can hear. Dance because something inside you says to. Dance because it's your dance and your time to dance. And dance like nobody is watching. 
• Sing. Sing a song. Sing opera in the shower. Sing rock and roll, sing country, sing moldy oldies, but sing. Sing silly songs at the bus stop. Sing an old song. Sing a new song known only to you. Hum under your breath. Sing because there is music inside you that must be let out.
• Eat an apple. Enjoy the crunch, the release of juice and tart sweetness. Taste the apple. Try to describe the taste. Do you detect a hint of citrus or burnt sugar? Each apple is different. What makes this particular apple uniquely enjoyable?
• Make something. Make a peanut butter sandwich, make a gourmet meal, make a paper airplane or stand in front of a mirror and make a face -- not that face -- another face! And giggle. But make something.  
• Look around you. Find one thing out of place and return it to its rightful position. Bask in the new order you have created or the old order you have restored. Decide too it again or not.
• Write something. Write that long overdue thank you note. Write a letter to a friend. Write a journal entry or a blog post. Write a memoir or start your autobiography. Better yet, write a check to your favorite charity, put it in an envelope and mail it without including a return address. Just do it.
• Read something. Pick up a random novel and dive in. Become friends with the characters. Let the story carry you along. It's not a story. It's an adventure, and you get to participate.
• Go somewhere. Go to a park by the river. Go to a concert or play. Go to cafe and savor a leisurely cup of coffee and a single pastry. Go for a ride and see the country, but go and enjoy going. 
• Sit and observe. Sit on a park bench. Sit on a chair. Sit on the ground. Sit in your car in a parking lot like a detective on stake out. Watch a river flow or a fish jump. Watch a fishwife berate her husband, or two lovers hold hands. Watch children playing and enter the world of their joy. People watching is one of the greatest pastimes known to man, but you have to sit and watch.
• Live. Be present in the moment. Be aware of others and the teeming life around you. And be glad. 

What to do today? 

There are endless possibilities. Do great and wonderful things. Do small and insignificant things. Do things both great and small. But do.

Today is a gift. What you do is mostly yours to choose. All I can offer are suggestions

Now, what will you do today?