Gratitude for a perfect moment

I don’t usually start with the photo. What I tend to do is focus on rattling off my three hundred words, for better or worse. After that, I grab an appropriate stock image and hit the “publish” button.
Tonight, I’m using a photo that I actually took, or at least a part of it. The photo was what compelled me to write, so I figured it ought to get its due.
I took my weekly night off tonight. Work’s been piling up, deadlines have been mounting, and the pressure’s been intense. I love my job, and because I care about doing it right, I don’t mind applying my night off to catching up on it.
After I left the office, I took a walk to one of the local pubs to catch up on some reading. After that, I headed up to Yonge Dundas Square to relax and do some meditation. Shortly after I’d sat down, I had a simple, profound and rare realization.
“This is nice. I’m content. Everything can wait.”
If that’s not a decent mantra, then I don’t know what is. I don’t know if it’s an experience I could replicate on command, but it was a powerful moment of realization. It’s not that things were perfect, or even great. It’s just that things were fine.
And in that moment, fine was great. Fine was perfect. Against my better judgment, I actually searched my mind for something that I ought to change. Something that I ought to be doing instead, you know?
There was nothing. I was sitting on the concrete on a cool summer night next to some fountains. Kids were playing, buskers were busking, families were relaxing. Everything was fine, and fine was great. Fine was perfect.
Find those moments, man. Take a photo of them. Make that photo your wallpaper on the smartphone that all too often pulls you out of those moments. Keep that photo handy, and let it be a functional reminder of your most recent perfect moment.
Look at that photo, and know it’s nice. Look at that photo, and know you’re content. Look at that photo, and know everything can wait.
