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It has been spoken, and it has been written, that there is always tomorrow. Shakespeare wrote,” tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps on its petty pace”. Einstein might argue that tomorrow and yesterday are already here, intermingling with what we call today. And all three are happening simultaneously, of course Einstein always said that he wished he could ride a lightning bolt because that would be the only way he could go fast enough to break the time barrier. Yahoo! Wonder what Albert planned to use for a saddle?

When Gandhi was in prison, he volunteered to clean the bathrooms. And if you can imagine bathrooms in an Indian prison in the days of Mohandas, not a pretty sight Today I cleaned the refrigerator, how does that relate? Gandhi did it because it was a discipline in self-control, humility and total, selfless sacrifice, it was the lowliest of jobs and it became a kind of meditation for him.

I did it because the refrigerator needed cleaning. And I was feeling very moody and depressed and thoughtful, you know, yea all that stuff, and so it seemed like a good idea to clean the refrigerator and so I did. And it was, but absolutely useless for survival purposes of the tangible touchable, eatable form. In other words, there were many more hopefully profitable things I could have done but I cleaned the refrigerator. Although that green slime, in the back of the refrigerator did seem to want to get away from the sponge. Now that I think about it, maybe it wasn’t Jell-O. Maybe the slime was morphing into a corporation CEO in the back of my refrigerator. And possibly cleaning the refrigerator did have survival purposes after all. Not just for myself but for the world as well. A simple act of cleaning my refrigerator could have had far reaching and positive value for the future. And Einstein would perhaps argue that the future had already happened and the past was still happening, and the only thing that mattered was the moment and in the moment as I cleaned my refrigerator I was pretty much thoughtless, and happy. I wonder if someplace in the whole time warp continuum of things I am still cleaning my refrigerator and the green slime is still there trying to get away.

As humans, we spend most of our time living in and remembering the past, or thinking about and generally worrying about the future. We are never “Here” Here in this moment this exact second. Have you ever tried just focusing on the exact moment you are in? For example as I write this most of my focus is on writing, and as many may notice, not on the typing. And I’m thinking about the refrigerator I’m cleaning, the spare tire I need to pick up later, my bank account, that’s always a big one. But I am not one hundred percent focused on this moment and what I’m doing in this second. It is possible to do that to focus just on the second. For example, ever been in a near car accident, or skidded on ice came close to falling down the steps. I’m pretty sure as the big truck was bearing down on you; you were not trying to remember the grocery list. Great athletes are able to clear their minds and live in the second. I was told once by a wide receiver (that’s a guy who catches the football thrown usually by a guy called a quarterback, which of course does not mean that he has only a quarter of a back nor is the wide receiver extremely wide of body. My lesson in football for the day, we move on to the next moment in time.

So this wide receiver told me that when he sees the ball coming his way, time slows down, hearing ceases, even movement is almost three quarters or half time, and he can see the laces and rotation of the ball. That is total and complete concentration on the moment. Then he gets smacked by a three hundred pound linebacker, that’s another football guy. And one might think it would have been better to concentrate on the three hundred pounder instead of the laces on a 14 to 15 ounce football, Which is what the NFL, that’s the National Football league says is the weight specifications for a professional football. It is also 11 to 11 1/4 inches long. The rules further specify a long circumference of 28 to 28 1/2 inches and a short circumference of 21 to 21 1/4 inches. The average linebacker is 6 feet 2 inches and weighs 235 pounds. Which moment would you rather be stuck in?

So dear reader has there been any point to this rambling caused by my refrigerator, by the way, any football fans remember a player called “The Refrigerator” Perry? I knew I’d find some connection between football and my refrigerator.

If there is any point at all it is that while I was doing this I mostly forgot about the bank account, the grocery store, now the grocery store there is another moment in time, and one in which I wish I could ride a lightning bolt. Then I could stay out of the way of the feisty little 90 year old lady on roller skates.

Oh yes the point of all this is that that there is no point, but for the last few minutes we have all been caught in a moment. And in these few moments. If I distracted you even briefly from thoughts you would rather not be having while you were trying to figure out what thought I was having, or simply if I were having a complete break with reality. I can assure you the latter is not the case and the former was my intention. Or so I think it was and therefore I am, and if I am then I am in this moment wherever it is.

It may also be to say that given a choice between total concentration on the small stuff like a little football, let it go, there’s enough big stuff coming down on us all to worry about. Let the other stuff go. And once in while clean the refrigerator and forget everything else, besides whats wrong with a little original Zen? works for me.