What day is "One day?"

If I were to say to you, "What do you hope to accomplish one day?" what would your response be? For me in the past, my list looked something like this:

One day I will:

Go to Africa (I didn't care where)
Get my Master's degree
Learn to decorate cakes
Get married
Have children
Get my finances in order
Buy a better car
Save money
Change the world
Rescue girls from sex trafficking
Lose weight/Get healthier

All of those things are good things. Really, they are. But what day is "one day'? Is there this magical day that the president comes on and declares a national One Day Holiday?

Yeah that would be a "no."

One day, if we don't put a date on it, could easily never come to pass. So I have decided to be intentional.

If you know me, you know that I am not the most organized person in the world. A good friend actually pointed it out to me and challenged me in that area. A friend that I didn't even realize was aware that I am unorganized. I insist on being organized at work and school, but look at my personal life and you'll see a totally different side.

(Side note: if you don't have friends who are willing to point out your weaknesses and challenge you in those areas, you should get some.  Those are true friends.)

I have had to write out literal lists and make myself take a good look at how I spend my days in order to start accomplishing some of these things. I have had to look at my weakness and determine that my disorganization will no longer rule my life.

So what do you do? What do you do when your list is full of "one days"?

You put a date on them. You look at them and say "this is the day that it will happen."

Some things you may have to stop life to do. Most things you can accomplish in your everyday life.

Going to South Africa? That took two months. Two months which helped to reboot my life, to recenter my focus.

Grad school meant writing out an application and putting money towards that application.

But cake decorating takes one day a week. Saving money and putting it aside for a better car just takes actual determination to not spend everything that comes in. Making a budget takes time to sit down and create, and determination to stick to it. Losing weight is a daily determination to eat healthy foods.

Getting married and having children is not something that I can just make happen, but I can become the person that I want to be as a wife and mother.

National Day of One Day is never going to happen. Life isn't going to slow down so that you can do those things that you've always wanted to accomplish. In fact if you're not careful, life will pass you by and those dreams will just stay dreams.

Let today be one day. Go. Do.