I only recently discovered this beautiful poem, on not living in the future, or waiting for some other moment to begin living fully. As Jon Kabat Zinn frequently says, nothing needs to be added to this moment to make it complete. And yet we often fall into the trap of thinking that sometime in the future, the conditions will come together, and we will start to fully live. As the poem says, there will be nothing in that future moment that is greater than now, than this day, when you stop reading this.
Starting here, what do you want to remember?
How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?
What scent of old wood hovers, what softened
sound from outside fills the air?
Will you ever bring a better gift for the world
than the breathing respect that you carry
wherever you go right now? Are you waiting
for time to show you some better thoughts?
When you turn around, starting here, lift this
new glimpse that you found; carry into evening
all that you want from this day. This interval you spent
reading or hearing this, keep it for life –
What can anyone give you greater than now,
starting here, right in this room, when you turn around?
William Stafford, You Reading this, Be Ready
Mindfulbalance 