I had a comment from the Divine Miss M on my last post. Check it out if you like. She wondered if living each day as your last would not add an element of stress. I think it does, but I would add that the benefits of this mindset are soul refreshing! I have a feeling that this is what living in the now is really about.

I am no expert of the matter, but I thought that I would include my approach.

I have started to spend a bit of time each morning reflecting on yesterday. I certainly am not doing it to dwell in the past, as yesterday is gone. I am really trying to appraise the life that I lived yesterday. What went well and why? How did I interact with my kids? How could I have done things differently? And so on. The answers to these questions are things I can use in my day today. Things that I feel did not go so well yesterday, I can correct today. If there are things that were not said, I can do these today. If there were things undone, I can do these today too. The chances I missed yesterday, I can try and grasp today. The things that went very well, I can repeat today!

The other questions I am trying to ask myself are ‘what should I be doing today to improve the lives of others?’ and ‘Do people feel that they are loved by me when they experience me?’ Not easy questions to answer at all on a daily basis. On a very simple level, I know that there are people that I should call and see. I also know that the way I live should be courageously aligned to my values. I hope that by taking this time to think, I will find those small acts of love to perform that are carefully hidden in the clutter and rush that is our lives.

Quoting Robin Sharma again, he says that ‘ultimate nobility is being better than your former self’. What he means is that life is not a competition with anyone at all. Instead, our challenge is to ensure that we are constantly improving ourselves. I hope that armed with the knowledge of how I can improve on yesterday as well as the answer to those more difficult questions I will be able to live a better, more valuable and loving day today.

And if I do die today, hopefully I will have touched your life in some meaningful way first!