A woman was diagnosed with cancer and given a year to live. She had a one-year-old at home. Her mantra, Tara Brach says, was this: there's no time to rush. She was in touch with her aspiration. Aspiration is where Tara's new inner workbook begins, and she describes it as the fuel of the whole journey. The path, in her framing, is not going anywhere. It is arriving more fully in your own awake heart and living from there. So aspiration is simply remembering that this is what matters, that love matters, that presence matters. There is a Zen teaching she returns to: the most important thing is remembering the most important thing. The reason it needs practising is that we already know it. A palliative caregiver who worked with thousands of dying people found the greatest regret was not having lived true to what mattered most. And you do not need a whole life to see the pattern, Tara suggests, just take a day. We know love matters. We know presence matters. And still it is so easy to slip into a trance, anxious, already on our way somewhere else, distracted, disappearing into the wormholes of an evening. So on this path, remembering becomes a training, precisely because forgetting is so easy. She describes her own version of it plainly. Her aspiration is to realise and trust and live from loving awareness, and what has changed over the years is not the aspiration but how intentional she has become about remembering it. She meditates in the morning, gets somewhat quiet, and asks: okay, what matters? Then she looks into the day ahead, sensing who she will be with and how she might live it. She brings each person in her close circles to mind and does a loving-kindness practice that is deliberately embodied rather than abstract, seeing her granddaughter up close, feeling the love, kissing her on the brow, feeling the kiss returned, dissolving into the field of their loving together. She starts with the easy ones and works outward to the harder ones. Then she sandwiches the day. Morning for aspiration, evening for looking back, noticing where she slipped into trance. Not to judge it. Just to be a little more alert next time. Want to go deeper with Tara Brach? Join Sounds True One for more teachings like this. Get your first month FREE at https://bit.ly/4ctecMn Subscribe to Sounds True's YouTube Channel ► https://bit.ly/SubscribeSTYT Sounds True is a mission-driven learning and media company, and a recognized leader in wellbeing, personal growth, and spiritual transformation. Partnering with the world’s foremost wisdom teachers and best-selling authors, the company reaches millions worldwide with its unique programs, digital learning experiences, and worldwide events. The company also features a variety of original series, weekly shows, and live online experiences on Sounds True One, its global platform and community with members across more than 125 countries. Sounds True is a Public Benefit Corporation and also the home of the Sounds True Foundation. Connect with us: ▪️Facebook: http://bit.ly/2XFIIeE ▪️Instagram: http://bit.ly/2UlEoiH ▪️Website: http://bit.ly/2tOl02d