What's with meditation, anyway?
Unrelatedly (or only semi-relatedly?), I have been thinking about that maxim that we should live each day as if it were our last, or live each day as if it were crucially important to us, and only be "in the moment." This isn't really such a good idea, though: if I lived that way, for example, I wouldn't really be very good at keeping a job. I wouldn't have savings for if I lost my job. I wouldn't have such intense loyalty to my friends while at the same time being so bad at staying in touch with them. It seems to me that existing only in the moment is a bit of a cop-out, vis-a-vis what the world is really about or for. And it feels like a recipe for flakiness. I'm enough of a flake without making it even worse.
Having said that, I think a constant evaluation of "what's really important" is perhaps crucial. So, for me, what's really important?
I once found (or perhaps myself invented) a counter-maxim to the "in the moment" maxim: Live each day as if you will live forever. This alternative maxim has complications and problems of its own, to be certain, and may be just as bad, as advice, as the other one. But I like to say it, because it forces people to consider all the possibilities.