Rise early, let some fresh air into your room, observe the ever-changing season outside your door or window as you take a deep breath. That’s all it takes to get your blood pumping and to fill yourself with vigor. Notice the chirping of birds, or the breeze, or the tree leaves turning color—your sensibilities will be stimulated and enhanced.
While you savor a cup of tea or coffee after breakfast, both mind and body take in the briskness of the morning, and you are inspired to make the most of the day.
Doesn’t that sound like a luxurious morning?
This is what it means to use your time to the fullest.
Again, when the day starts like that, it’s easy to imagine how the rest of it will go. Quality time flows from one moment to the next.
♦
From Don’t Worry by Shunmyo Masuno, translated by Allison Markin Powell, published by Penguin Life, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright © 2019 by Shunmyo Masuno. Translation copyright © 2022 by Allison Markin Powell.