This Side of Paradise

We've just returned from a week's visit to Paradise Island. During our stay, we all went on the "Booze Cruise to Rose Island" - a one day trip away from the hubbub of touristy activity. No phone, no lights, no motor car; not a single luxury ... Our guide pointed across the water to a smaller island and said "a picture of that island was used in the opening for Gilligan's Ilse." Hmmm ... It looked right, but the Bahamas is full of tales like this; one can never be sure how tall they've grown. It is amazing how peaceful a "deserted" island is. We've all gotten so used to background noise - noise pollution - that we've forgotten what a toll it takes on our souls. How does one find inner peace amid the chaos of everyday life?

It rained Thursday morning before the sun came up. We could see the storm clouds moving off to the east from the restaurant where we ate breakfast; in the west, we could see new clouds stacking up. After breakfast, we went back to the room and I checked the weather channel. Back home - in Maryland - the remnants of Hurricane Ida were pounding ashore. For the moment, the sun was shining in Paradise; so I went down stairs and soaked in the hot tub, laid on a lounge and finished reading "This Side of Paradise", then went for a swim in the pool. As I floated in the pool, I caught myself thinking "What a perfect day! Storms to the east, storms to the west, even storms back home; but right here, right now, everything is perfect." As it turned out, those storm clouds in the west never reached us; and it really was a perfect day.

How many times in life have you missed a perfect moment? We get so caught up in the things that have just happened, and the things that are going to happen, and the things that are happening "over there", that we forget about the perfect moment we find ourselves in RIGHT NOW! So stop what you are doing and take a deep breath. Mentally block out the before's, the after's, and the over there's. Look around you and find perfection. Live in this moment; it will never come again.