To Live Deliberately

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.... I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life..."    Henry David Thoreau

[image error] Photo by Nicole Lawton
I'm not going to run off to Walden Pond (though it looks lovely, doesn't it?), but I do feel a keen desire to live deliberately and suck out all the marrow of life. Sometimes I feel like there are a million things getting in the way. I move from one activity to the next feeling like I should be doing something else instead, something more important. This vague sense of guilt follows me around.

But, hello? That is life. Those little daily moments are the "essential facts of life." Living deliberately is not so much about what you do, but about your state of mind while you do it. If I would just take the time to be in the moment--to notice, to wonder, to enjoy--I would realize that I am not missing out on anything. Be it writing, walking, taking care of my family, visiting friends or relaxing at the park. That is the marrow. I just need a reminder now and then.

And Thoreau said something else I wholeheartedly agree with: 

"How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live."

 And: 

Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify. 

(He said so much more, I may have to start a Thoreau quote post as a regular feature)

What do you do to suck out all the marrow of life?