Always More To Do
I reckon anyone over the age of, say, 3-years-old knows that a to-do list is never done. There’s no such thing as a fully completed & accomplished to-do list. All that has ever existed is a to-do list that continues. Even when we have the satisfaction of getting today’s to-do list items checked off, when we wake and rise tomorrow another list awaits. This is the nature of living and reality of life.
This is one of the reasons I appreciate being a mindfulness practitioner. Without making an intentional effort to connect with and reside in the present moment, with whatever is happening and taking place in the here & now, it’s easy to be swept up and along into the mainstream current of bigger, better, faster, more. Because our to-do lists forever continue into the future, it’s helpful to find a way to ground ourselves in the present, so that we’re not perpetually living in and for tomorrow.
To both plan for the future and live amid the nowness of today is no easy undertaking. That’s why mindfulness and meditation are often referred to as a practice. I consider it very good news that we do not need to choose between preparing for the future and anchoring our attention in today. We can involve ourselves with both simultaneously. It’s good to have aspirations and goals we are working towards. It’s good to make plans and set things into motion. And it’s also good to find ways - if we can - to truly arrive and be in the moment we’re in with ease & satisfaction.
Our sauna is done. Mike worked on it for the past few months and now it is fully operational. We’ve been wonderfully using it quite often. On average every other day in the evenings after dinner. But the sauna is part of a larger building on which there is much work left to be done. Such is the nature of our slow expansion efforts here at Empty Mountain. It is a good practice to both revel in the completion of the sauna while keeping up energetic momentum for the rest of the build project. If one only keeps an eye on the never-ending always-expanding to-do list, life can start feeling like an endless trudge.
Most if not all of us know there will always be more to do. A homeowner knows there is always something around the house that needs fixing or tending to. A householder knows there is always more dishes to wash and laundry to do and meals to shop for and make. A student knows there is always more schoolwork and studying and reading. A worker knows there are always more tasks to be done.
Coming to understand the reality of what life is about can help us to approach our day-to-day from a different direction. Without a practice of being here now it’s easy to regard life as an ongoing frustration. To pin our hopes on some future day where we will find everything to our liking and our to-do list all the way done is not realistic.
We can instead practice to be amid the flow of daily life while it’s happening. This doesn’t mean we must stop planning for what’s ahead. It means we’re able to enjoy the scenery surrounding us along the way. We are in a boat floating down the river into whatever future we are creating in the here & now. But there’s another option other than fixating our eyes solely on what’s coming next and what’s to come. We have the real potential to look around wherever we are. To smile and relax. To feel the pulse of life, the heartbeat of the moment, and the air of breath in our lungs.
