I know I’m not the only one. You do it, too, right? You carefully craft that last bite of your dinner to be the best one—the one that has the crispy bit of skin, the right dollop of sauce, the right amount of potato. It’s an artform, really.

Which Bite Would You Eat Last?

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, possibly because I eat a giant bowl of granola that’s basically crumbled up cookies with shockingly large chunks of chocolate. It makes me inordinately happy to organize the last bite to include a not-insignificant amount of chocolate bits . . . it makes for a pleasing way to end dessert breakfast. Don’t judge.

In the scope of a meal that likely takes no more than 15 minutes to hoof down (20 if you like to chew your food), it’s perfectly fine and fun to arrange and leave the best for last. Endings matter, as we chatted about in our “Peak-End Rule” discussion.

Yet you might want to manage your “save the best bite for the end” mentality.

In the broader, arc-of-a-lifetime timeframe, saving the best for last means we just might be postponing our existence.

Are you waiting to go to Tokyo when you retire?

Are you waiting to write your book of poems when things slow down at work?

Are you waiting to learn Italian when you have more time?

Are you waiting to volunteer at the animal shelter . . . later?

Are you waiting to take leisurely walks at lunch for when you’re a senior citizen?

This is an “and,” not an “or” conversation.

We want both! We want a great last bite of life, and a great bites along the way, too.

I’m not suggesting you live hard and die fast without a care in the world about how you’re going to spend your retirement (let alone be able to afford it if you’ve squandered your 401(k) on LIVING LIKE YOU MEAN IT NOW). Plan an amazing last quarter of your life, indeed! Make your younger self jealous with your vitally alive senior self, for sure!

AND . . .

Remember to get on with the living today, too.

Remember to take your vacation and get to Tokyo sooner rather than later.

Make time to do the things you long to do, now—not just because you might die before you get to write that book of poems (boooo—I had to take it there)—but because you deserve to get on with living today. Your life deserves the respect of being used to its full capacity; it wants you to do it justice.

So save the best for last in your meals—I’m sure as shit not going to stop piling the chocolate chunks up on the left side of my bowl as I eat my breakfast—but when it comes to this gift of a life you’ve been granted . . . LET’S GET LIVING IT! And since you’re going to learn Italian now, not later, you’ll appreciate this: “cogli l’ attimo.” Seize the day.