Another installment in the series of posts of the WCWW scholarship contest winners and runners-up! Today’s post is written by Milo McLaughlin, one of our scholarship runners-up. Enjoy!

I wake up to a new day. I am, figuratively speaking, a new person each day I awake, because I’m free to behave however I want to behave. But sometimes the person I was in the past has made choices which limit the paths open to me now.

Thankfully the Me that I was yesterday was a kind person. Kind to the Me that I am today. And the one before that was also kind. Today is Friday Me, so the last two Me’s were Wednesday Me and Thursday Me. They were kind enough to exercise and eat well, get enough rest, and to cross a number of significant tasks off our shared to-do list.

Tuesday Me was a bit of a git though. In fact, now I think about it, he was a fat lazy git, who stuffed himself with jam doughnuts and stayed up too late watching Battlestar Galactica. So the Wednesday Me was already screwed, and couldn’t get up out of bed so was late for work. That had a knock-on effect to Thursday Me who already had a busy day scheduled, but now had extra work from Wednesday Me to contend with. However, Today Me is compassionate and forgives Tuesday Me so that Tomorrow Me doesn’t have those negative emotions to deal with and can get on with his life.

1997 Me was a total idiot. 1997 Me was a drunkard who treated people badly. This adversely affected 2009 Me when one of those people started working in the same office and understandably refused to speak to 2009 Me. Not only did this make the workday awkward, but 2009 Me felt deeply ashamed and guilty for the behavior of 1997 Me. 2010 Me is working on transcending 1997 Me’s negative impact.

Today I think to myself – what can I do for Tomorrow Me? Well first of all, I could turn down the doughnuts that my boss offered me, and I could go for a swim. That would mean Tomorrow Me was a fraction less unhealthy than today Me. Also, I could do some writing. That would mean Tomorrow Me was a more practiced, and possibly accomplished writer than Today Me, even if only by a tiny margin.

Also, Tomorrow Me has a piece of written work to edit if he wishes, to publish on his blog, or to offer to someone else to publish. So it would be like giving a gift to Tomorrow Me. Also, if the piece I have written is useful for other people, then it is also a gift for anyone who reads it.

Today Me could also spend some time truly listening and engaging in conversation with Today Her. Then Today Me would be improving life for Tomorrow Me, as well as for Today Her and Tomorrow Her because our relationship will be a little bit stronger and happier.

That’s three positives from one action – which have the potential to multiply because of the other people that Today Her, Tomorrow Me and Tomorrow Her come into contact with. But I won’t go into detail, or we might all get confused.

Don’t tell me that you can’t change the world – you can do it every single day. So let’s begin. What is Today You going to do to make the world a better place for Tomorrow You?

Milo McLaughlin is a writer, musician, & filmmaker who has a day job working as a web co-ordinator on environmental issues. He’s been published by a variety of print & web publications on topics as diverse as music, technology, and journalism and has interviewed a bunch of highly creative types including Will Oldham (aka Bonnie Prince Billy). He blogs at Products of a Gaseous Brain.