Greet every morning with open arms and say thanks every night

The saying of Regina Brett, “Greet every morning with open arms and say thanks every night with a full heart. Each day is a precious gift to be savored and used, not left unopened and hoarded for a future that may never come”, is a hymn to life itself. Its message is like the rising sun: radiant, warm, yet fleeting if one turns away. Morning, she tells us, is not merely a span of time but an invitation, a door flung wide by unseen hands. To meet it with open arms is to stand ready for whatever may come, neither cowering in fear nor clutching at what cannot be controlled.

In the evening, when shadows grow long, she calls us to give thanks with a full heart. The day may have brought triumphs or trials, laughter or tears, yet gratitude is the chalice that turns all experiences into sacred offerings. For in giving thanks, the soul confesses that even struggle is not wasted, but part of the tapestry of our brief sojourn on earth.

Brett reminds us that each day is a precious gift. The ancients knew this truth well. Marcus Aurelius, emperor and philosopher, once wrote that we live as if we had endless tomorrows, while in truth only this day, this hour, belongs to us. To treat the day as a gift is to unwrap it with joy, to partake of its sweetness before the night carries it away forever. To hoard it, to postpone our living for some imagined future, is to lose it altogether, like a miser whose wealth rots in the chest.

Consider the tale of Anne Frank, a child confined to the shadows of war. Even as fear and confinement pressed upon her, she looked to the world beyond her window and wrote: “I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.” In a prison of walls and dread, she yet found the gift of a single day, of a shaft of sunlight, of laughter shared. Her short life stands as a beacon, proving that to live fully is not to wait for freedom, wealth, or peace, but to find meaning in the breath one holds now.

The words of Brett, then, are not counsel for comfort alone, but a call to heroic living. To awaken each dawn with courage, to march into the hours as into battle, knowing that this may be our last campaign. To meet the setting sun not with regret but with gratitude, having poured out our strength upon the field of life. For what greater defeat is there than to pass through the hours like a ghost, unseeing, unfeeling, untouched by wonder?

The lesson is clear: do not let life lie unopened like a scroll gathering dust. Rise each morning with a cry of welcome, and close each day with a song of thanks. Savor the cup of time, drink deeply of friendship, beauty, and love, for the cup is small and easily spilled.

In practice, let each person begin the day with a simple rite: stand still, breathe, and whisper, “I receive this day.” Let each night close with remembrance: write down three things for which you are grateful, no matter how small. And throughout the hours, pause to notice—the taste of food, the warmth of sunlight, the laughter of a friend—for these are the threads that weave joy into our mortal fabric.

Thus, the teaching of this quote is not distant nor lofty, but as near as the beating of the heart. To live as Brett commands is to dwell in the eternal present, embracing the dawn, giving thanks at dusk, and cherishing the gift that is today—for tomorrow is a promise the heavens may not keep.