-- Judith Viorst 

Some days, for all our good intentions, seem to go sour from the start. Maybe we're tired or feeling ill or preoccupied with a problem that seems insurmountable. Maybe we just got up on the wrong side of the bed. 

Living one day at a time means getting the most we can out of today.

It also means we know today does not have to doom or dictate tomorrow. 

If we have a bad day today, that's all it is -- a bad day. It does not mean we're bad or that the world is against us or that we might as well give in to our worst attitudes and behaviors since nothing is going right anyway.

And it does not mean tomorrow will be a bad day, too. 

When we have a bad day -- and everyone does -- there are a few things we can do while we wait it out. We can slow down. We can be quiet. We can pray. 

And we can let go. 

How else will we be able to recognize a wonderful day? 

But a ball of yarn that gets unraveled can be strewn across an entire room. It becomes a jumbled mass, entangled and confusing. 

When we live our lives a day at a time, we are like that rolled-up ball of yarn.

Our thoughts, feelings, and skills are ready to be used as they are needed. But when we worry, our spirit becomes a jumbled mass of yarn. 

We get ahead of and behind ourselves -- our thoughts are scattered and often our feelings are confused. Worry adds clutter and confusion to life. 

What is most helpful is to put the worry away -- to roll up the ball of yarn and bring ourselves into the present moment.

In this way, we stand ready for each new stitch -- and we will never be given more than we are able to handle.