I listened to a radio essay written and read by a Norwegian winter athlete. (Sommer og vinter i P2 med Liv Grete Skjelbreid). She mainly talked about one thing she did before competitions and now is doing it through daily life.
She asks herself: What’s the most important right now?
As I listened to this, I was making bread, noticed I got a little stressed for a variety of reasons and asked myself that question.
What’s most important right now?
For me, I saw it wasn’t the bread. The bread will be good enough. It will be gone in a day or two anyway. I can always make more bread and do it differently. What’s the most important right now is how I am. That I am enjoying myself. In this way, I found a way to allow myself to relax.
The question helped me connect with what’s most important to me right now. It reminded me of the bigger picture.
And the answer will be different in each situation, and it may also change over time for us.
The question is really about what’s more important for me right now than what I temporarily get caught up in.
It helps me explore this and perhaps find a new layer of what’s more essential for me.
And the question helps remind me of this bigger picture.
And, as Adyashanti says, we can also use this question to explore and remind ourselves of what’s most important in our exploration of life in general.
DRAFT FRAGMENTS
It doesn’t matter what the answer is, as long as it’s what’s most true for me in the moment.