2. Savor this moment as if it were your last breath. You can live only one day at a time, and no one can be certain that they will wake up the next morning. So let’s not post‐ pone happiness. The best moment of your life is always this one.
3. Avoid distractions. An old proverb says that a hunter who takes aim at two prey at once will kill none. The same thing happens when we try to follow a conversation or read a book at the same time as checking our phone. Zen teaches us to do one thing at a time, as if it were the most important thing in the world. If you do it that way, it undoubtedly will be.
4. Free yourself from everything that isn’t essential. One can recognize an expert traveler more by what they leave at home than what they carry in their suitcase. Life is a thrill‐ ing adventure through which it’s best to travel light, so ev‐ ery day, whenever you feel overburdened, ask yourself, What can I let go of?
5. Be your own friend. Rather than comparing yourself to others and worrying about what other people think, assume that you are unique in the world. As the celloist Pau (Pablo) Casals said in a poem written for children: You are a miracle, and there has never been—nor will there ever be—anyone like you.
6. Celebrate imperfection. If not even nature in all its com‐ plexity, with all its births and deaths, is perfect, then why should you be? Each failure is a sign that you should take a different path. Each flaw is an invitation to polish a dia‐ mond. If you have the will to improve, then it’s perfect to be imperfect.
7. Practice compassion. From a Buddhist perspective, feeling sorry for someone doesn’t mean feeling pity but rather a pro‐ found empathy that allows us to travel toward the situation of the other to understand their motivations and, if necessary, their mistakes. Each person acts according to the mo‐ ment of personal growth in which they find themselves. Even when they behave in hateful ways, it’s the best they can do with what they have.
8. Let go of your expectations. Making predictions, waiting for certain things to happen, is a guaranteed way to kill the moment. Ichigo ichie is experienced with the uncluttered mind taught by Zen.
