I've often wondered what the difference of a day really makes. Are we different people today than we were yesterday? Are we going to be different tomorrow? Sure, we are different. We are one more day older but are our thoughts and actions actually different?
I recently turned 21 years old. The night before I actually turned 21, I waited for the clock to strike midnight so that I could legally go into the bar and get a drink if I so wished. As the night went on, I sat there thinking, "what is the difference between now and a few hours from now?" Just because I am 20 today and I'll be 21 tomorrow doesn't mean anything except that I can legally buy alcohol. I just couldn't understand why. Was I any different in that time? No, but the system says I am. In a matter of minutes, I did not magically become wiser or more mature. I simply became another day older making me eligible to buy an alcoholic beverage.
And then New Years happened. 2016 became 2017, a new year, and it got me thinking once again. I've been asked multiple times what my new year's resolution is. Year after year I try to come up with some kind of resolution but it's often forgotten about after the fifth day of the year. It's usually just something random that I'll come up with to appease all the questions. I'm sure I'm not the only person who experiences this. So this year, at 21 years old, I decided I wasn't going to come up with some random resolution that I would forget about within a few days.
Once again, I wondered what is the difference between today and tomorrow. Sure it's a new year but I'm still the same person. So whatever this resolution could be, why couldn't I start it whenever I wanted to start it. If I wanted to start going to the gym, I could just start going at my convenience. If I wanted to eat healthier, I could also start whenever I wanted to. If I wanted to try a new activity or open up to new possibilities, I could start whenever I wanted to. One day should not define when I can make start my resolution. Yes, it is the social norm to have a new year's resolution but I couldn't help but wonder what is the difference of one day.
The difference of a day doesn't have to be thought about with regards to big moments like the new year or a birthday. What about just a normal Thursday in the middle of the year? There's not much of a difference between the Wednesday before or the Friday after but they are all different days. So if we want to make a change, we can do it any day because I still haven't figured out the difference of one day. One day something big could happen or nothing could happen at all. But the difference between today and tomorrow or today and yesterday is still a mystery.
