Harry's Perfect Moment

As he swung his legs over the side of the bed Harry knew something was different, but he had no idea that today he would have a "perfect" moment. It was Monday morning and Harry had just taken one of Ariel and Shya Kane’s weekend workshops, Live in the Moment and Not in Your Thoughts. Donning his cotton robe Harry made his way to the kitchen and started his day just as he often did by preparing breakfast for his wife and two young sons He got out the usual supplies, knife, cutting board, bowl, and fruit and laid them on the butcher block center island. Suddenly, the morning took a new twist. There was a break in the routine. The "same old, same old" wasn’t any longer.

In the past, Harry had dutifully made fruit salad for breakfast. He and his family had always liked the end result but Harry had never enjoyed the process. He never liked the way the peels heaped up on the counter, nor how the juice ran off the board, nor the stickiness of his fingers, the slipperiness of the knife in his hand. It just wasn’t elegant or sophisticated. Making breakfast certainly wasn’t fun or enlivening. It was a task to be accom-plished so that he could get on with his day.

But this morning things were different. Spontaneously, Harry was actually there for what he was doing. He wasn’t trying to get it over with. He appreciated the fuzz on the skin of the Kiwi, the scent of the strawberries, color of the oranges and curve of the banana as he set them on the counter. Then he had an inspiration – why not use the bowl he usually reserved for the salad to hold the peels? And so Harry began to peel the kiwi in a single spiral, enjoying the moment when the skin lightly landed in the bowl. Then he slid the knife through the succulent green fruit, marveling at the starburst pattern of seeds in each slice. These he arranged by spreading them in a cascade of color along the upper edge of the board. Next the banana. The peel also landed in the bowl and the slices ran in an orderly line beneath the kiwi. Soon his board was a rainbow of color with berries and oranges, melon and papaya. Tossing the peels Harry rinsed his hands and the cool stream of water caressed his fingers.

Returning to the center island he assembled the fruit in the bowl and lightly tossed it with his usual serving spoon. Looking at the finished product he wondered if the salad was somehow more vibrant, it’s succulent fruit a riot of color. Taking a deep cleansing breath Harry paused as he realized that it was a perfect moment. As he washed the fruit board, and wiped the counter Harry felt an unusual, yet welcome, sense of accomplishment, a calm serenity. As the day progressed, the sense of wonder stayed with him. His mind kept touching upon the memory of his morning: the colors, smells, his feelings, the tastes.

In the afternoon, Harry got out his bicycle, strapped on his helmet and pedaled off into the sunshine down the local streets on his way to work. It felt good to stretch his legs and soon he was moving at a clip. Unbeknownst to Harry, he was about to have yet another perfect moment. Life was about to present him with a shock. As he pedaled down the street, Harry flashed upon his morning. He teased out the making of the salad in his mind’s eye, running through the details, savoring the perfection. His legs pumped in rhythm as his gaze turned inward and once again fruit marched across his cutting board in colorful stripes. Suddenly Harry’s bike lurched. In an instant he was pitched over the handlebars. Time slowed. Sights and sounds crystallized. A woman screamed. Head over heels, he saw the incongruous sight of an upside down police car. Then he landed in a heap on the asphalt. People rushed to his aid but miraculously he wasn’t hurt – just a few minor abrasions and a slightly damaged ego.

A short time later Harry stood on shaky legs preparing to resume his ride. The police officer and the good Samaritans had melted back into their own days and their own routines. Had anyone still been there to watch, they would have seen a goofy grin spread over Harry’s face as he had a series of rapid fire realizations. The accident had been totally his fault. Lost in thought reliving his "perfect" moment, he had hooked a pedal on the curb and it had pitched him forward. Standing there, safely on the sidewalk, Harry was stunned to realize that each moment was perfect – not just those he preferred. He suddenly saw that when rerunning the past he was no longer present, no longer in this instant of time. Harry then recognized that by rehashing even a perfect moment he had made himself accident-prone. After all, the course he had just taken was "Live in the Moment and Not in Your Thoughts." With a snort he climbed back on his bike – this time aware of his surroundings. Yes, this morning had been lovely and special and profound but time and his life had moved on. Taking a deep breath of air Harry had yet another perfect moment… and another… and…