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Three Ways to Have More Perfect Moments

Karen "Tallkat" Conley posted on 5/26/2014 8:39:00 PM
Three Ways to Have More Perfect Moments
"Like a bolt out of the blue, fate steps in and sees you through.”

When You Wish Upon a Star -
written by Ned Washington and Leigh Harline

I have always believed in paying attention to small but perfect moments. This  is not only satisfying and delightful but a healing balm in difficult times of all description: illness, loss, failures, disappointments. All the wrong turns in life soften when a perfect moment is noticed.

No matter the personal malady, a perfect moment brings us back to center, grounds us,  allows us to feel at home and safe in our changing and often scary world.

Everyone without exception has experienced perfect moments. Even if you cannot recall one right now, I  am certain you have had this magic happen to you. You just need to tune in a bit more.

I will share some simple ways to be more aware and able to take  full advantage of the everyday perfect moments in your life.

What is a perfect moment?  

It is the first sip of morning coffee or tea or taking your shoes off after a long day at work or in the garden (boots are especially good for taking off with pleasure! I ask my hubby to  pull mine off after a long hike really really slowly ... ahhhh.)

It is the feeling of hot, scented bath water, clean sheets, warm bed, chicken soup, homemade or not after an illness,  the first spring scents of chamomile, lavender, and peaches right off the tree in summer - the perfume of a high mountain pine forest in monsoon season, a less-than-perfect birthday cake, handmade and slightly crooked, given by your child or a co-worker, an unexpected neck rub on a tense day from a friend, an afternoon nap, the loving steady gaze of a pet.

1. Perfect moments are endlessly available to everyone all the time. No matter your circumstance, your age, your state of mind – they are there. They never cease to amaze, surprise, delight, and uplift the spirit. Believe this.

2. If you take time to notice and, more importantly - appreciate and acknowledge - more  of these special times show up. Perfect moments are like self seeding plants. They land in all kinds of  places. Often in the strangest times and locations or in the rocky, hard places in life.

3. From your own perfect moments you learn how to offer one to someone else. Of course, creating one for a loved one is fun but even better - look for an opportunity to create or mastermind anonymously for a stranger or a child.

I've always enjoyed these kind of moments, even as a youngster. Now as an adult I still look forward to the unexpected.

The hubby and I had been together for about sixteen delightful years, all was stable and peaceful. Just what couples dream of.

Then it happened, the inevitable so called decline of married life. Not actually a decline but a set of circumstances that were beyond the normal challenges in life and way beyond our control.

There were serious health issues with me, the one people described as healthy as a horse.

I was an athlete, and a competitive one at that. Then all of  it changed.

Michael, who worked for one of the largest creditor collection law firms in the United States, a position we felt he would have until he decided to retire – became unemployed along with 1,000 other employees in the firm in single day.

We lived on unemployment for 3 years.

The world and our relationship was changing. There was now illness, the natural process of aging, plus financial stress and heavy losses that dragged out for years.

It took me out of the perfect moment mentality into yucky old survival mode. As always in  life we finally adapted to these things. Michael found a job that he actually enjoys, but makes much less money. Eventually with a new wisdom (the kind that comes from hard times) we found our balance.

I worked hard at getting my health back , a long and winding road I still travel.

One day I found the courage to walk back into a Spinning class at our little gym. I nearly backed out at the sight of it all but Michael slapped me on the butt and said “You get in there!”.

To my delight,it all came back - like riding a bike which I, of course, was.

One Sunday I arrived sort of late for class and had to drag my bike across the front of the class who had already started. I mumbled “Sorry I'm late” to the teacher, then dropped my padded bike seat and water bottle, which cracked and spilled a quart of water all over the floor!  Funny how we forget the great distance anything spilled can cover. “I made a mess,” I said sheepishly to the instructor.

She smiled and told me not to worry about it, just leave it.

This was a full hour class with lots of sprints and short intervals, challenging, but I kept up. After a month of carefully building stamina I was making progress.

At the end of the session, the instructor approached a couple of male students, turned up the resistance and told them to sprint as fast as possible in the saddle - just blow it out for 10 seconds!

Then she asked me, the late to class student with the grand entrance at the beginning of class. “Are you ready for this? ”

I nodded and there I was - pumping for all I was worth for a 10 second blow out at the end of a challenging class.

Never would I have guessed a perfect moment was on its way.

Surprisingly I suddenly felt like an athlete again, strong, tall and confident in trusting my banged up, beat up self.

Spontaneously my arms went up into the V for victory shape, my face like a little kid on Christmas at the end of the ten seconds from hell.

This particular perfect moment was a shared one which made it really special.

To my shock (and delight), the others in the spinning class felt it, felt me having  a winning moment.

They did not know me, or why I was in a V for victory. Maybe it was because I stumbled in late, spilling water and dropping things like a clumsy Lucille Ball in cycle gear. I don't know.

But the group felt me winning something; having a moment and they burst into …applause! Yes, I was getting stronger. But a spirit of grace seemed to hover around me like ... sparkles - Fairy dust.

I still bask in the sensation of  inclusion with those who were stronger and younger. I am the only one in class with mostly silver hair making a personal comeback to fitness.

This is one defined perfect moment for the memory bank in my next life.

Look for your moments. Appreciate them when they happen,and more will find you.

Wherever you are.
Posted in: Spirituality, Inner Guidance, Motivational, Self-Improvement, Tallkat | Tags: Perfect Moments , Fairy Dust , Lucille Ball , Cycling , Spinning , When You Wish Upon a Star , Walt Disney , Motivational , Spirituality , Tallkat | Comments (0) | View Count: (2429)

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Copyright 2013 by Karen "Tallkat" Conley