It’s 4/20. It’s Hitler’s birthday, the anniversary of the Columbine massacre, National Pot Day, National Lima Bean Respect Day (I’m not kidding), and my niece’s birthday. (Happy Birthday Meg!) In fact, there’s a “day” for everything. I looked it up. (I know. I’m a nerd.)

Is there ever just a normal day? Mary Jean Irion said this, “Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.”

My normal day won’t look like yours. You might be one of those who hops out of bed with a “bring-it-on” smile. Others of you are suffering through unspeakable grief today. A normal day for a young black male in Chicago finds him wondering if that next crack of a gun will be for him. And what’s a normal day like for a Muslim woman in a burqa? Sometimes normal days are “stuck” days. Sometimes we experience life change and adjust to new normals. And some normal days are pretty good days.

But what I’ve been asking myself is this…what do I WANT today and every day, normal or not?

I want growth. (Well, I don’t always want growth because it can be painful, but it beats the alternative, and deep down, I REALLY want to grow—to be better today than I was yesterday.) I want to be able to see rays of hope from without. I want to choose growth from within. I want growth in my personal life, for my family, and heck, wouldn’t growth be nice for our world? Wouldn’t it be great to wake up to the news and say “whoa, that’s a healthy decision!” rather than fearing the worst?

So what are you looking for today? A ray of hope? A remembrance? A resolve? A little blossom of growth that wasn’t there yesterday? Seek it. Find it. It’s your day.

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