President Thomas S. Monson on living the best we can each day

President Thomas S. Monson (1927–2018) was sustained to the Quorum of Twelve Apostles in 1963. He served as a counselor in the First Presidency with Presidents Benson, Hunter, and Hinckley and then became Church president in 2008. He led the Church for almost a decade until his passing in January 2018.

"Sometimes we let our thoughts of tomorrow take up too much of today. Daydreaming of the past and longing for the future may provide comfort but will not take the place of living in the present. This is the day of our opportunity, and we must grasp it.

"Professor Harold Hill, in Meredith Willson's The Music Man, cautioned: 'You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you've collected a lot of empty yesterdays.'

"There is no tomorrow to remember if we don't do something today, and to live most fully today, we must do that which is of greatest importance. Let us not procrastinate those things which matter most."

- Thomas S. Monson, "In Search of Treasure," General Conference, April 2003
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How can we live as happily and contented in each day as possible? President Monson suggests that one critical aspect of that challenge is to avoid dwelling too much on the past or anticipating the future. It's critical to learn to "live in the present"!

And so President Monson reminds us that learning to "do that which is of greatest importance" in each day, and to not "procrastinate those things which matter most" as we live our lives, is a crucial task of life.

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2018)