Love Each Day: Live Each Day so You Would Want to Live It Again by Gail Bernice Holland
Love Each Day is a novel of assorted candies that gives us insight into what a well-lived day can look like for a wide range of people. While a couple of stories skate around the issue of death, the full intent of the novel is to inspire us to live a life that we are proud of. The idea behind the book is a subversion of the common idiom, “Live each day as if it was your last,” with the exception that the stories in this book are meant to focus on how to live positively without regrets and without the worry or spite that can blossom from the looming thought of mortality.
While a couple of stories skate around the issue of death, the full intent of the novel is to inspire us to live a life that we are proud of.
Of the 40 stories in the book, there are a small handful of stories that stand out because they are not your typical ‘best day ever’ stories. One of these stories comes from the chapter titled “A Day of Confronting Her Husband About an Affair,” in which a loving wife and a cancer survivor by the name of Julie is able to set aside her fears of rejection to put her own peace of mind first. In the recounting of this event, Julie tells us how her husband’s dry and sarcastic attitude in reaction to being forced to end an affair with a co-worker has thrown her life off balance and caused her to doubt her own love for her husband. However, the support that he was able to show her when she was diagnosed with stage two thyroid cancer opened the way for her to let him back into her heart and save her marriage. While a confrontation like this is a day that most would not be jumping at the bit to relive, Julie’s choice to tell us of the day she realized her failing marriage was saved gives us an opportunity to discover how a positive perspective can help us grow.
Of the 40 stories in the book, there are a small handful of stories that stand out because they are not your typical ‘best day ever’ stories.
Credit: Wikipedia
Another moving story titled “A Day ‘Guaranteed’ to Honor Life” offers us a similar insight on how positivity can help us understand a part of ourselves in a way we never knew before. This story follows George Zimmer, the CEO of The Men’s Wearhouse, as he recalls his experience at a funeral for his psychiatrist and close friend. In this memory, George shows us how he invited other funeral-goers to use an imagery process, a psychological technique, to help friends and family members keep his dear friend close to their hearts, even after he had passed on. This story shows us how remembering someone who has passed can still bring light into our lives. While he or she may no longer be with us, we can still use his or her memory to help us lead a life that is worth reliving.
Remembering someone who has passed can still bring light into our lives.
These stories, along with the others throughout the book, offer insight on how we can alter our attitudes to improve the quality of our own lives. While the full book may not be the most serious or life-altering read, the stories of love and triumph that fill its pages offer a sense of connectivity that uniquely comes from reading about the dictated memories of others. If you are at a point in your life where you are feeling down and alone, reading this book is an excellent way of getting perspective on how you can rethink your life to find something positive. To say the least, it leaves us with the poignant question, “What day would you like to live again?”
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