Savor the Good Now

I’m the kind of person who saves the best bite of a meal for last. I only wear my favorite perfume on special occasions. I wait years to wear my favorite clothing.

Lately I’ve been making a practice of doing the opposite. Eating the best bite first, wearing my perfume every day, wearing my favorite outfit now. And it’s been a real practice, learning to savor the good now.

So much of workplace culture and technology and the demands of modern living prioritize efficiency above all else. I’ve been asking myself to consider what a life of efficiency precludes. In the moments when I feel life passing me by, when I ask myself why I’m not enjoying my life, it’s because I’ve made choices, based on efficiency, that lock me out of savoring, lingering, wondering, dreaming, sleeping, luxuriating, wandering, experimenting. The stuff that makes life worth living.

It takes practice to make the space to enjoy. But I hear that eventually it leads to living in the goodness of your life as frequently as possible. Not that it will all be good but to take the good when it comes. The next moment, tomorrow, next week is not guaranteed.

So now I ask you: is efficiency always what serves you? Can you savor the good now?