The Optimist

In a recent conversation with a friend, I was introduced to a powerful metaphor from his favorite movie.

An optimist falls from a roof and every windows he falls past he thinks to himself, "So far, it's going pretty well."

As I reflected on this, it struck me how deeply it resonates with the essence of life itself. From the moment we enter this world, we embark on a journey with an inevitable destination. Just like the optimist, we have a choice in how we perceive and navigate this journey. Each passing moment is like a window we fall past, offering us glimpses of the beauty and challenges that define our existence. We never know how many more there will be for us before we bit the ground.

Recently, I shared this metaphor in my yoga classes, trying to urge students in yet a new way to embrace the present moment with full awareness and intention. In the practice of yoga, every pose, becomes an opportunity to dive deeper into ourselves. Every breath, a window to become present yet again. (And there are on averagre 24.000 breaths a day.) We move through the asana, acknowledging that each moment is fleeting yet incredibly precious and maybe we have the present awareness and humility to acknowledge that "so far, it's going pretty well."

As we move through the sequence, we cultivate gratitude for the body's strength and resilience, but also weaknesses, and we honor the breath that sustains it all. Ultimately, we arrive in corpse pose, Savasana, the final moment of surrender, with the certainty that our journey will one day come to an end. But until then, we choose to savor each moment, finding joy and meaning in the journey itself.

Just as the optimist finds solvation in every window passed, may we too find peace and contentment in the unfolding of our lives, embracing each moment with open hearts and minds. "So far, it's going pretty well."