WHY COUNT DAYS?

The day we actually have.

Yesterday is finished. Tomorrow is not here yet. Today is the day we have been given to live.

People sometimes ask why I keep count of my days, or what the number beside my name means. The best way I can explain it is through a picture I saw in my mind.

That image came to me on September 13, 2023. I calculated how many days I had lived and found that I was on Life Day 19,500. From that day forward, I have tracked my day count.

A hillside of completed days

I saw rows of white crosses stretching across a green hillside. Each cross represented one completed day of my life.

May 19, 1989. A graduation cap rested on one cross, marking the day I graduated from high school.

March 8, 1992. Another held a white Dixie Cup sailor hat—my first day in Navy boot camp.

January 15, 2015. A white lily marked the day my dad passed away.

Some crosses were clean and in perfect condition. Some were weathered. Others were broken. They did not all look alike, because the days they represented had not all been alike.

I could see people visiting some of the crosses. They were remembering days we had shared together. Those days belonged to their memories, too. A day I rarely think about may still mean something to someone else.

I can visit yesterday.

That hillside represents completed days. I can return to them through memory. I can appreciate what was good, grieve what was lost, learn from what happened, and repent where I need to. I can carry their wisdom forward.

But I cannot live any of those days again. Whatever I wish I had done differently, yesterday is finished.

Today is still open.

At the top of the hill, I saw an open grave representing today. It was a place for the day I was still living. When this day is finished, it too will be laid to rest among the others.

For now, I still have this day to live. There is still room to listen, to pray, to make an effort, to apologize, or to spend time with someone I love.

Tomorrow has not been born.

Then there are the days ahead—the days that have not been born yet. I do not know how many there will be. I do not know what the final number will be, or when my counter will stop.

I can prepare wisely for tomorrow, but I cannot live there today. I cannot assume an unlimited number of days is waiting for me.

That uncertainty brings my attention back to the day I have actually been given.

Why I count

Psalm 90:12 expresses the wisdom I hope to carry into this practice:

“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”

Psalm 90:12 · King James Version

I created Day Counter 1000 as a reminder to live one day at a time. A resolution gives me something meaningful to work toward. A journal helps me remember. A word of encouragement from the community reminds me that I do not have to walk alone.

The number helps me notice the day. What matters is how I live it.

— Jamie Rush