Nope.

In sports, there are clear examples of players who have an off day. They are normally the best in the world at what they do, but on this particular day they just don’t have it.

Now what’s fascinating to me is that some athletes are so much better than the rest of the world that they can win even on an off day. What happens in real life when you just don’t have it one day, and you weren’t the best at it to begin with?

You get today.

I woke up today but didn’t have a lot of energy. I didn’t have a particular reason to struggle, but it just wasn’t there. I was able to do many of the things I normally do, like walk with the family. I even broke out my first student Zoom call with my co-teachers (we ended up with more teachers than students). At the end, though, it was just not my day. I found myself laying on the couch just trying to not go crazy.

It was one of those days where you tell the kids to do something and they don’t do it, but then you realize you are too tired to actually enforce the punishment.

It was one of those days where the dog poops exactly in the wrong place and at that moment you realize you forgot a bag to clean it up with.

It was one of those days where one of our young ones goes crazy and knocks the phone out of your wife’s hands, causing it to land in the strangest possible way and crack the screen despite it having a case.

I have tried to keep up six resolutions and goals over the last few weeks, and with the exception of running every day (I took four days off) I have maintained them all. Today, though, I give my resolutions two thumbs down. Today is just a big nope. Well I guess it’s actually three yes votes for blogging, flossing, and reading the New Testament. The other three? Nope nope nope. Just nope.

Everyone is dealing with this crisis in different ways. I am using the extra time I have found from working at home to try and change the way I treat my family and myself. I don’t do it to minimize people’s struggles during this time, which are clearly a major concern. I do it because if I am willing, able, and healthy I need to keep pressing on or else I will get off course in a hurry. I know myself and without pressure I crumble.

So to all the people who have given this last month or so a “nope,” you are doing great. Tomorrow is another day, and hopefully it will be better for you than today. I don’t want to pretend I understand everything you are going through because that’s not fair to you. I mostly just wanted to fess up. Today stunk. I did a bad job at all my jobs. If today stunk for you too, do I have the right to judge?

Nope.