Cattāri Brahmavihārā

For me, the quote below means that I have to be willing to give it all, to literally expect that I could vert well die by pushing myself to do the next lap, rep or meditation session. What is a life of excuses worth?

It follows, then, that when I say I’m going to do something, I do it come hell or high water. I got my first extended taster of this yesterday when my wife wouldn’t tell me where the car was and I needed to go to work in Brooklyn. It was raining and the walk there is two and a half hours but I said I was going to and I stuck to it. This despite feeling sick and dizzy all day yesterday. And you know what? As scary as it was to be stuck in the rain and feeling bouts of vertigo at times, the sense of accomplishment and the joy that arose simply keeping my word more than made up for it.

And, it turns out, my mind is a bit melodramatic. Regardless, I need to be willing to put it all on the line whenever I do anything because it truly could be the last thing I ever do.

Let us prepare our minds as if we’d come to the very end of life. Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life’s books each day. The one who puts the finishing touches on their life each day is never short of time.” — Seneca