Today, not Everyday

I am often asked if I practice everyday. I generally try to evade this question because once you say you do something everyday your ego is prone to get behind the wheel and steer you away from whatever discipline you've acquired. Here's the mind's sneaky process:

You've decided that you are going to start practicing everyday. As your mind starts contemplating this, you realize that this means you won't have a day off to rest. Then your mind starts thinking of times that you would have a day off. Let's see, there's moon days, so that's two days a month you don't have to practice. And 'female days', so there's another three days a month you get to take off. But what if your 'female days' coincide with a moon day? Then you're getting jipped on a rest day! And your body needs rest, right? So maybe instead of doing a daily practice you should only do it four or five days a week. And here we are, WAY off track and we haven't even started yet.

So how do you get past this viscous cycle? By living purely in the present. Don't tell yourself you're going to practice everyday. Everyday is in the future. When you wake up in the morning tell yourself you're going to practice today. You're going to practice now. Take your practice, and everything else you do, a single day at a time. That is where you will cultivate discipline.