My grandfather once shared with me the following thought.  In his youth, back in Europe, there were just two kinds of calendars.  The first was a 'day calendar' that sat on the desk with one page for every day. The second was a calendar that hung on the wall where you could see the whole year at a glance, each day represented by one small square box.

 

The difference between the two was the following.  With the desk calendar when the day was over the page was torn out and thrown away. With the wall calendar the end of the day was marked by a tick in the square, but the day was still there.

 

Each day is an opportunity to achieve, grow, give and develop. Unfortunately sometimes at the end of the day we are like the desk calendar where the day is gone and forgotten. But when we fill our days with goodness, holiness and character building our achievements live on and the day remains forever.

In the days between the festival of Pesach and Shavuot there is a Mitzvah to count the Omer. For seven weeks we count the days, from one to forty nine. This Mitzvah has many lessons, one being the value of time. Each day is precious and special. Each moment has endless opportunity and needs to be treasured and given the appropriate attention.

Our achievements don't have to be huge or glamorous. They can be the size of a calendar box with small but meaningful steps. But if we accomplish at least some thing small each day, the box receives its tick and remains forever.

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