“Each person is only given so many evenings and each wasted evening is a gross violation against the natural course of your only life.”

That is a quote by this guy:

Charles Bukowski was a prolific writer of poems, short stories, and novels. Above and beyond all those words, I happened across the above quote today — of all places — on Twitter. In fact, I found a Twitter account dedicated exclusively to Mr. Bukowski’s quotes. (My guess is that feed could go for years without having to circle back.)

Not all of them are “winners,” but most are pretty good.

So, in thinking about the above quote, I think Mr. Bukowski was endorsing the idea of a fully-lived life, in mindful daily increments.

I do something similar.

Everyday, I pursue S.W.E.R.N.Y.

Those six letters remind me to rejuvenate, contribute, nourish, learn, relax, and reflect, respectively.

Points for guessing what each letter stands for. I’ll give you a second. Don’t scroll down until you think you’ve found a thing for each letter.

Ex.

S = rejuvenate

“S” must be ______ (Insert word starting with the letter “S”)

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S brings rejuvenation: SEX (or in the alternative, SAUNA.)

W is an opportunity to contribute: WRITE (or in the alternative, WORK.)

E is for nourishment: EATING well, light, and low on the food chain.

R is for learning: READ.

N is a chance to relax in the middle of the day: NAP

Y is the opportunity to go inward and reflect: YOGA

A perfect day for me is a SWERNY day.

SWERNY doesn’t happen in that order, usually; nor does it have to. Today was a SEWYNR day. I have lots of WESNRY days. I only called it SWERNY because if you take any one letter out, it still seems to make something that looks like a word.

And at the end of the day, in the evening that Mr. Bukowski cites, I look at my day with the regular feeling that I have not “violated the natural course of my only life” but rather have figured out a six-step plan to live it well.