On Guard

I don’t know about you, but I need a certain amount of ‘personal time’ every day.

I guard this vigilantly and sacrifice it rarely.

Occasionally I may shuffle the exact time of day at which I perform some of the tasks, but I never discard them completely.

For me, this time includes:

• Spiritual practice: 10 minutes meditation minimum but usually 20-30, and qigong.
• Physical movement: strength training, yoga, and/or sports.
• Mental exercise: Writing, reading, and chess practice.
• Nutrition: Home cooking 95% of all meals. Proper planning & shopping is also included.

These things are non-negotiable for me.

I’d like to think that even if I lost every material thing that I had, and say, I was homeless and stranded with nothing but the clothes on my back, I would still focus on these four key elements, in one way or another.

What do you guard with your life? What will you defend until death? What is non-negotiable for you to be who you were meant to be?