On Friday, I woke up on the wrong foot (after a nocturnal emission) and I was sure my day was only going to follow with disaster. To my surprise though, it didn't. Instead, this Shabbos turned out to be the most positive, meaningful, and fulfilling Shabbos I've had, maybe the entire year! I took a leap and decided I'd put everything aside and work only with the present moment, to use it to its fullest, and to make it the best possible. The thought I carried throughout the day was, "What's the best I can do this very moment?". Wow! I found that it's so much easier to work this way! When focused only on the present moment, you stop making yourself feel like a hypocrite for anything of the past, and the future doesn't either make a difference at this point in time. That totally frees you of the stresses coming from thoughts of consistency, goals, perfection, and personal achievement, etc.! Then, when that's disregarded and all that matters is the present moment, you're even able to enjoy things that would otherwise be extremely stressful! Today was the first day in a long time that I can look back and be proud of how I spent each moment!
Very important (life) lesson learned...