Treasure Yourself

 

 

Photo by Ashin K Suresh on Unsplash

Look to this day:
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course
Lie all the verities and realities of your existence.
The bliss of growth,
The glory of action,
The splendour of achievement
Are but experiences of time.

For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow is only a vision;
And today well-lived, makes
Yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well therefore to this day;
Such is the salutation to the ever-new dawn!

by Kalidasa

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"Treasure this day and treasure yourself. Truly, neither will ever happen again." - Ray Bradbury

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Many years ago, when I was going through a difficult time, a friend gave me the above poem. In those days I didn't appreciate the importance of being present in this moment. I was inclined to dwell on the past and catastrophise about the future. Mindfulness meditation has taught me better.

Writing prompts:

• Write about what you have treasured from this day.
• Do you treasure yourself? Write about how easy or difficult this is to do.
• Make a list of ten things you could do this week to 'treasure yourself.'
  
• Take a phrase from the poem (eg. the bliss of growth, yesterday is but a dream, the ever-new dawn), put it at the top of your page and use it as a trigger for six minutes of writing.