One Day At A Time
Sometimes when I’m having my morning devotional, I stumble upon interesting articles as I research a certain Gospel subject that I’m interested in. This month I found a talk entitled, “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread” by D. Todd Christofferson, which was given on January 9, 2011—fifteen years ago! This is a short excerpt:
The Lord’s invitation to seek our daily bread at our Heavenly Father’s hand speaks of a loving God, aware of even the small, daily needs of His children and anxious to assist them, one by one. … As we seek and receive divine bread daily, our faith and trust in God and His Son grow.
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. (John 6:35)
Christofferson also quoted N. Eldon Tanner who eloquently spoke of how to achieve any goal we set to better ourselves:
“As we reflect on the value of resolving to do better, let us determine to discipline ourselves to carefully select the resolutions we make, to consider the purpose for making them, and finally, to make commitments for keeping them and not letting any obstacle stop us. Let us remind ourselves at the beginning of each day that we can keep a resolution just for that day. As we do this it gets easier and easier until it becomes a habit.
“One Day At A Time”
Most people have heard this expression, and some people have learned how to make it a part of their everyday lives. Here is one explanation of how it came to be such a common phrase:
"One day at a time" gained traction through Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), even though it doesn't appear word-for-word in the original Big Book. The concept and spirit run deep in AA's teachings. The idea also echoes Christian traditions—like "Give us this day our daily bread"—and Stoic philosophy, which encourages us to focus on what we can control and let go of what we can't.
My goal this year is to do things differently than last year. Through prayer, I received a burst of inspiration about one thing I can change, and it’s working! I’m so excited! I know I now need to continue focusing on “one day at a time” and look to the “Bread of Life,” who is my dear Savior, to supply me with what I need on a daily basis. I hope each of you can set a goal to find one little thing to do differently this year, too! Tiny improvements can generate tremendous amounts of happiness and high self-esteem!