To My Magnificent Agents, Staff and Friends:
This past weekend some old friends came into town and we got together. We were very close some thirty years ago. Alas, life and careers took us on different paths. As we reminisced, inevitably someone noted the undeniable truth that time increases in speed the longer we hold on to it. In what seems like the blink of an eye, we catapulted from 30 year old Ferraris to 60 year old Volkswagen vans – still sort of cool, but much slower. Recalling our youth, another noted, “Those were the days!” There was a long pause, then came the comment, “Where has the time gone?”
Upon leaving, I contemplated our conversation. As I thought about all of those wonderful times that as a result of our discourse had been resurrected in my mind, I asked myself, “What was, is, or will be the best time of my life?” That evening, observing the wisdom of my two year old grandson who was visiting our house, I began understanding the answer.
We have a bunch of magnetic letters of the alphabet and numbers attached to the side of our refrigerator. One of my grandson’s favorite activities is rearranging them. As he was approaching that task, I observed him. With great concentration he would manipulate each letter and number into a pattern discernible in its relevance only to him. After doing so, he would then step back, tilt his head and ponder what he had just created. If what he saw met his standard, he would smile, clap his hands and shout, “Perfect! You did it! Good job!” If, however, after pausing, stepping back and observing, he didn’t quite approve of how his effort turned out, he would then rearrange the numbers and letters, stepping back again to gain perspective until what he observed was judged by him to be his best effort.
Studying my grandson, I was reminded of the truism that it all depends on how we look at things, and not on how things are in themselves. The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it. I also remembered a story I had recently read that spoke to the question that was started by this mental exercise – what was, is, or will be the best time of my life?
Here’s the story:
My daily routine included going to the gym for a workout before going to work. Every morning I would see my friend Nicholas at the gym. He was seventy-nine years old and in terrific shape. As I greeted Nicholas on this particular day, he noticed I wasn’t full of my usual vitality and asked if there was anything wrong. I told him I was feeling anxious about turning thirty. I wondered how I would look back on my life once I reached Nicholas’s age, so I asked him, “What was the best time of your life?”
Without hesitation, Nicholas replied, “Well, Joe, this is my philosophical answer to your philosophical question:
“When I was a child in Austria and everything was taken care of for me and I was nurtured by my parents, that was the best time of my life.
“When I was going to school and learning the things I know today, that was the best time of my life.
“When I got my first job and had responsibilities and got paid for my efforts, that was the best time of my life.
“When I met my wife and fell in love, that was the best time of my life.
“The Second World War came, and my wife and I had to flee Austria to save our lives. When we were together and safe on a ship bound for North America, that was the best time of my life.
“When we came to Canada and started a family, that was the best time of my life.
“When I was a young father, watching my children grow up, that was the best time of my life.
“And now, Joe, I am seventy-nine years old. I have my health, I feel good and I am in love with my wife just as I was when we first met. This is the best time of my life.”
Marcel Proust once wrote, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” When you apply the proper perspective to the question what is the best time of your life, the inevitable answer is right now. If you can’t see it, perhaps you’re standing to close. Step back, tilt your head and gain a new perspective. If what you see before you in your life is still not quite up to your liking, rearrange what’s there and look again. I think what you’ll discover is what my grandson ultimately observed in his numbers and letter effort – Your present is “Perfect,” and “You did it!” “Good job!”
Have an AWE-full week and weekend!
Bill