One must wait until the evening to see how splendid the day has been. – Sophocles
Sophocles was an ancient Greek playwright who flourished in the fifth century before Christ. Highly celebrated in his day, he is reputed to have won 18 of the 30 contests he entered while finishing second the remaining times. He is one of thee playwrights of the era, along with Aeschylus and Euripides whose works survive to this day. Some research shows this quote has also been attributed to Will Rogers.
Today’s Thought is true whether we are referring to a certain day or a long-term accomplishment. Accomplishment takes, among other things, effort, courage and patience and in no small measure, either. When those elements lead to success it is, of course, supremely satisfying. But human nature being what it is, we will tend to get caught up in the moment and not appreciate what happened, and we might immediately move on to another project.
We must avoid this. When the evening does come, we must take the time to enjoy what we did. Of course, us humans are always advancing, and new challenges, some of them vexing and some them downright problems, will be waiting for us tomorrow. It’s the way the world is built. But the proverbial evening should be spent enjoying the accomplishments of the day and reflecting on the planning and work that went into achieving it.
So let’s leave tomorrow’s challenges for tomorrow because they will certainly be there. Spend the evening enjoying a job well done, a goal reached, a dream realized. We certainly earned it.
The Thought for the Day runs regularly. All quotes are from Gaylon’s private stock.
