Anne Lamott

"I remind myself nearly every day of something that a doctor told me six months before my friend Penny died. This was a doctor who always gave me straight answers. When I called on this one particular night, I was hoping she could put a positive slant on some distressing developments. She couldn't, but she said something that changed my life. "Watch her carefully right now," she said, "because she's teaching you how to live." I remind myself of this when I cannot get any work done: to live as if I am dying, because the truth is we are all terminal on this bus. To live as if we are dying gives us a chance to experience some real presence."

from Bird By Bird: Some Instruction on Writing and Life, 179