Are You All In?
When I was young, I read a Zen koan that I will paraphrase here.
Two monks were playing a game of go when a third monk burst into the room shouting, "Master has told me that the world is ending tomorrow. One of the monks looked up from the game and declared, "If that's the case, I have spent a lifetime eating simple, basic foods. I have never experienced the delights of gourmet cooking. I am going to have a fancy meal." The monk that burst in added, "I have spent my life celibate. I have never experienced the pleasure of a woman. I shall go experience that earthly delight."
The two monks moved toward the door then noticed the third monk was still seated. One of the two turned toward the seated monk and asked, "What will you do, brother?" The monk looked up from studying the go board. "I shall finish the game."
In that koan, only one of the monks was living his best life. He was right where he wanted to be. The other two were postponing their respective lives. To the degree that we can live regret-free, living our best lives needs to happen in the present moment. In the present moment is where we can suck the marrow of life.
"I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms…" Henry David Thoreau