Thinking about being in the present moment brought to mind an experience I had a couple of years ago while at breakfast in a diner in Richardson, Texas…

I love toast.

That’s the conclusion I came to after my experience today during my brunch at The Waffle House. It was an ordinary day, a very pleasant but ordinary meal. Even the toast itself was, by all accounts, ordinary.

What was remarkable about the experience was my reaction to the toast. I was already enjoying the meal, but when I took my first bite of the toast, I found myself relishing every bite. Everything about the toast was absolutely divine – the feel, the smell, the texture, the look, the taste – it was all just a great wonder. It was as though this was the first time I had ever seen, smelled or tasted toast before. And I loved it! The waitress must have thought I was a crackpot as I ordered two more servings in succession, as I sat there utterly absorbed in eating toast.

I thought about the movie Meet Joe Black, in which Joe – who happened to be Death on holiday – tasted peanut butter for the very first time and was enthralled by it. That very thing happened to me while eating my Waffle House toast. The only difference was that I had had toast before.

What I realized is that at that moment, savoring my toast, I was more in the present moment than I had perhaps ever been to date. I was acutely aware of everything about my toast. It had captured my complete attention. I found Zen, the Now, in my toast. Every delicious bite is indelibly embedded in my memory forever.

I look forward to more moments like that – where everything is a wonder, no matter how familiar or ordinary it may be.