Today is the first day of the rest of your life
Welcome all believers of living in the moment. Here is some history about our domain name:
In 1987, while working on my degree, I had an inspiring course that challenged us to create our own businesses. Among the diverse range of ideas my peers came up with, mine was to establish a venture focused on motivational leadership, 'today is the first day of the rest of your life' (before the advent of the .com era. )
Fast forward to the present, 2023, and I find myself reconnecting with this platform. Recently, I had the privilege of speaking with an exceptional gentleman named Bill, who was an Ad Executive back in the 1950s. It was Bill who originally introduced the saying "today is the first day of the rest of your life." In honor of his impactful contribution, I dedicate this website to him. Edie Ostby, June 2023
"Well, Hi, Edie! Been a long time. Yes, I still have all that stuff. In fact, when you disappeared, I acquired the domain name: todayisthefirstdayoftherestofyourlife.net. Haven't done anything with it yet; just didn't want the domain name to go away. Anyway, here are the words and the story. The song itself is on billssongs.com along with a bunch of other stuff. Good to hear from you!"
"I came up with the phrase when I was in the army in the mid fifties. Did nothing with it until the mid sixties, when I was working at Ackerman and Associates advertising agency in Oklahoma City. Sitting in my office trying to come up with an ad campaign for Oklahoma City Federal Savings and Loan, I picked up my guitar and wrote a song. I recorded it and Pat Catlett, Johnny Shannon, and Tom Kreutil put some video with it. We broke the campaign on New Year’s Day 1970. Phone calls, letters, and cards started flooding the S&L instantly, saying the song had stopped people from committing suicide, had brought estranged families back together, etc. Eventually we got more than 50,000 responses, from as far away — somehow — as Australia.
As with “Thank Heaven for Seven Eleven” and many, many other themes I’ve written, lots of other folks claim to have come up with it. Specifically Charles Dederich, who didn’t. In fact, Merv Griffin was considering using it as his TV show theme until he heard Dederich had appropriated it for Synanon, an operation with which Merv did not want to be associated in any way. On the other hand, Edie Sellman, a lovely lady who I know only via email, came across it much later, and chose it for her domain name: todayisthefirstdayoftherestofyourlife.com. Which couldn’t make me happier.
And now you know the rest of the story."..... Mr. William Davidson, Ad Executive, Songwriter + Founder
'Today is the first day of the rest of your life'
Poem By: Mr. William Davidson, 1950
"How long will those old worries run around inside your brain?
Why do you let what’s done and gone come back to cause you pain?
My brothers and my sisters, I remind you once again, Yesterday is yesterday, and so it will remain.
A thousand broken promises are burning in your mind.
You spend a lifetime longing for the life you’ve left behind. In a world of miracles, how can you be so blind?
Life is full of wonder, only seek and you will find.
Today was once tomorrow, till the rising of the sun.
The world is full of blessings you may gather, one by one.
Think of where you’re going, and not what you might have done.
Time is time unending, but for you it’s just begun.
Today is the first day of the rest of your life."