Today is the Only Day

thoughts on embracing the present moment

Listen to a recording of this essay here. 

There’s a big project I’ve been chipping away at for the last year or so – something just for me, with no external stakeholders, so in true Obliger fashion I’ve been having trouble staying consistent with it. It’s frequently last on my to-do list, behind all the work I owe to other people; my weekly obligations, like this newsletter and my new podcast; and the steady output that content creation requires, which can never really be enough to please the algorithm gods. By the time I have a spare moment to dedicate to this project, one of two things usually happens. The first: I’m too exhausted to squeeze out even a bit of creative energy from my brain. The second: I get so overwhelmed with how far I have left to go, with how much time it will take to get there, that I opt to make no progress at all. Obviously, this only pushes the date of completion back even further, and the amount of work left to do remains the same, which makes this prime dummy behavior. (As I’ve said before, I’m not a guru or an expert – and so I’m not  immune to acting like a dum dum from time to time.)

This isn’t the first time this has happened to me, and honestly, I typically end up abandoning these personal projects. If it’s something I owe someone else, I will simply beast my way through the paralysis because there’s no other option. But last month, after three weeks away from the project, I started to feel a gnawing guilt pulling me back to it – at least mentally. I couldn’t make myself actually get back into it until I had a thought coming out of a meditation, something that’s reframed my approach to work and my life: today is the only day. Afterward, I wrote in my journal: “Today is the only day. I only live in this moment. I need only to master the next 24 hours. Do not get caught up in 30 day, 75 day, or 90 day plans – today is the only day. Master it and move on.” I’m sure I’m not the only person this has ever occurred to, but it was life-changing for me, a recovering five-year planner who is learning to take things as they come and surrender what is beyond my control.