“Pleasure is very seldom found where it is sought; our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks.” ~ Samuel Johnson
I was at home one day when my best friend from Grad school called me.
“I’m having the most FANTASTIC day!” she said to me.
I got excited; I imagined all kinds of fabulous things that might have come into her world. New job, reconnection with an old friend, meeting a fascinating someone new…
“Really?! What’s going on?”
“My car broke down in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge,” she answered.
“WHAT???” was my automatic reply. “How is that fantastic??”
“Oh,” she said, “it’s WONDERFUL. They come along in a truck with a board tied to the front, and they push your car off to the side, out of traffic. THEN, you get to stand in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge and look at the world!”
“Ok,” I said, beginning to catch on.
“How often do you get to stand in the MIDDLE of the Golden Gate Bridge?? It’s FANTASTIC!!!!!”
This is my friend Jessica, who is one of the brightest, funniest, most grounded humans I know. When she tells you something is FANTASTIC, she means it…
Jessica is my role model for living in the moment – she not only manages to stay present to the here and now, but with hedonistic pleasure, she latches on to what joy there is to be found and runs with it.
How many of us can say the same?
Inevitably, life will not go the way we plan. The truth is that we can make all the plans we want, but the future is still unknown to us. How we react to the moment depends entirely on our ability to let go of how we thought things would be and embrace what IS.
Not every situation gives us as clear-cut a benefit as being able to look out over San Francisco Bay from 220 feet above…
But there is almost always wisdom to be gleaned, and pleasure to be found if we are able to surrender the shoulds, and the coulds, and the woulds to the Now.
FANTASTIC indeed!
“Tell me what gives a man or woman their greatest pleasure and I’ll tell you their philosophy of life.” ~ Dale Carnegie
hmm, i think as a Mass resident I especially appreciate and needed to read this post. it does seem as if our car has broken down…I will cross my fingers for a good view.
Hello,
Interesting, I`ll quote it on my site later.
[url=http://www.vodefeel.com/]Dougles[/url]