Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Doing the Right Thing"

One of the primary ways the Buddha gives of generating desire is trying to be heedful — in other words, realizing that your actions are important. They do shape your life. And every good intention, every good action, is a step in the right direction. If you don’t make steps in the right direction, you’re going to go in the wrong direction. You can’t just sit here and say, well, things are just going to pass by, pass by, and it doesn’t matter what I do. What you do does shape things, and sends them in a particular direction. What kind of shape do you want things to be? In what direction do you want to go?

One trick for developing heedfulness that I find works pretty well is to imagine yourself on your deathbed, looking back on this part of your life — especially when you’re faced with an important decision. Which is the decision that you would tell yourself, “I’m really glad I did that,” or, “I’m really glad I acted on that insight or that understanding”? You don’t want to lead a life that you look back on and you say, “Oh my gosh, it was a total waste.” Time is precious. We don’t know how much we have, but we do have right now. So make right now a skillful choice." ~