My mother gave me a card to read the night before Ironman Lake Placid. Inside to the card, she gave me this poem, Salutation to the Dawn, which remains on my bulletin board as a reminder to make each day as fulfilling as it can be. Needless to say it was probably the perfect thing to read pre-Ironman!
Look to this day!
For it is life, the very life of life,
In its brief course
Lie all the verities and realities of your existence:
The bliss of growth,
The glory of action,
The splendor of beauty,
For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow only a vision,
But today well lived makes every yesterday
a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day!
Such is the salutation of the dawn.