The real trick: expect to die in a
minute.
No joke. The Buddhist perspective gets into that. The idea of dying tomorrow sets you up to worry about making the most of the future of the rest of the day, and you're still not really present. When we consider that these few breaths or bites or moments might be our last, we can release all the clinging and aversion because it's too late to do anything but be profoundly aware of being alive in this moment. And given that we usually don't just die, we get to experience that sense of life-flashing-before-your-eyes and immediate sense of love and compassion, and still an aspiration to make the very most of each moment (including planning for the future since that might be a thing).
This might be the final sentence you read. So, there's no reason to live each day as your last. It's okay to live each moment in whatever way it shows up. It's all we have, and there's nothing to do but to be aware of it. And, remarkably enough, once we stop striving and just let go, we magically find ourselves more attuned to our deepest values of love and compassion.
This writing might be the last action I ever do. Love to everyone and everything