There are some things in our lives that need to become daily practices, like exercise and other healthy habits. There are other things that need to be accomplished, completed, and done with. Just now I’m trying to finish something I’ve been working on for five years. It’s a book about stillness and how it can be incorporated into our daily lives. It’s almost ready to be published: I’m at the point of checking all the references, notes, and bibliography and it’s a thoroughly painstaking process. I’m discouraged. I know it’s never going to feel good enough. The writing could always be better. But I also know it needs to be over with. Finishing is sometimes the hardest part of any endeavor – it’s very much like that last mile when your lungs feel close to bursting. Or that last twenty minutes of a long road trip. Or getting ready for the break-up. But that’s just when we need to push through to the end, regardless of how we feel. Emotional satisfaction doesn’t happen when we’re trying to finish something—it comes afterward. And there’s no room for mental second-guessing or perfectionism. “Is it good enough?” “Maybe I should…” No, finishing something reaches deep down into another part of ourselves: our will power. We don’t have a lot of opportunities to activate our will—we’re given what we need, for the most part, and we’re focused much more on our thoughts and feelings. But will power is equally important. Doing the deed. Accomplishing the task, no matter what. Develop your will power by finishing a task to its very end, without distraction. Persevere with your endeavor–whatever it may be–and give it time. But not too much time. Finish it. Then let it go. Move on to the next thing.