A calendar may designate a date, but the heart decides how often, why and when we’ll celebrate each one of our blessings! The heart needn’t stick to the calendar when it comes to showing our gratitude for all of our “gifts” past and present; or in honoring others who’ve brought such joy, love and pleasure to our lives.   

A birthday, an anniversary, a remembrance, or a day set aside for special consideration are on the calendar usually once a year; but every day in between can be an equally important reminder of why we consider those earmarked days so significant! It’s the love and gratitude which fills our hearts and minds that dictates the meaning and significance of something or someone, not just a date set aside. And it only takes a change of circumstance to teach us the real meaning of a date on a calendar after all.

I only really learned to honor Father’s Day when the actual day set aside for that no longer applied to me in the same regard; when I could no longer have my day of celebration with him or give him gifts, the calendar day no longer meant a thing to me without him physically present. In fact the holiday caused me some pain for the loss of him for several years after his passing, watching others celebrate with their dads in ways I could no longer with mine. Now Father’s Day for me is every day I can spend time remembering him, it’s not just one day a year in which I am grateful or filled with memories or a sense of loss.   

The human heart decides the meaning of our days, not a calendar. That is just a physical tool which serves to remind us of the meaning we already understand and appreciate from within. May all those people and reasons for which we find a day worthy of celebration know first how much gratitude and love we have for them every day, not just that one we’ve earmarked so conveniently or blatantly upon the annual calendar!