From the beginning of my career as a meditator, I had the intention, the idealization, of meditating every day. Life, though, has a way of not cooperating with our intentions. I would miss a day. Occasionally I would miss two or three days. A week. A month.
Facing a hiatus like this, I had an inspiration: my life wandering away from daily meditation was, in an important way, just the same as my mind wandering while I am meditating, and it warrants the same response: gently returning to the desired state of focus. Did I miss a day yesterday? Never mind; come back to meditating today. Have I missed a whole week? It does not matter; come back to meditating today. This inspiration removed an obstacle to coming back to meditating after a break: it removed the guilt and self-criticism.
It was only a small step from here to the next inspiration, and this is the big one: this was not just about meditation, but it applied to many different things. Did I omit going out for a walk for exercise yesterday? Never mind; today is a good day for a walk. Have I been neglecting my guitar recently? No matter, just pick it up right now, tune it up, and run through some scales and chords. Did I blow my diet yesterday? That was yesterday; today we are eating right.
Distilled to a single sentence, my latest inspiration was this: