Enjoying the Moment

I was recently reminded of a Caribbean cruise I took a couple of years ago. That trip taught me about living in and enjoying the moment for what it really is and not worrying about things to come.

My friend (we'll call him Keywest) and I were taking a jaunt around the island of Cozumel on a rented vespa. We had a map and enough gas (we thought) to get all the way around the island. However, we decided to take a detour into the center of the island to check out a ruined Mayan settlement. After wandering through the ruins, we took our time getting back to the main road. We stopped a couple of times along the way to check out little tiki huts with touristy stuff and to have lunch. In our excitement, we forgot to check the gas gauge and and about halfway back to the cruise ship port, we ran out of gas.

Fortunately, we were in this little area called Punta Sur. Keywest spoke just enough spanish to tell one of the locals of our predicament. Keywest was a bit agitated. He was afraid we were going to miss our embarking time back at port. I, on the other had, had somehow found the true Caribbean spirit in my soul and kept telling him things would be fine.

"Oh look, there's a bar! Let's get a beer!" I said.

"Um, we have a bigger problem, than thirst right, now. I'm not sure that guy really understood what I was saying." He replied, shooting me a dirty look.

"He understood, he looked inside the empty tank. " I said, walking toward the bar, where the reggae music and cold Corona beckoned. (I thought the reggae music in Mexico was a bit odd until I realized the name of the bar was Bob Marley House. Go figure.)

"We have to get back to port!" He called after me.

About that time, the local guy walked back up to Keywest and said something about having called a cab to bring us some gas.

"You wait!" He said in broken English.

"See, we have to wait on the gas anyway. We can have a beer and look at the ocean until the gas gets here." I said.

"How long is the wait?" Keywest asked the local man. I think that's what he said. I only know two words in spanish --cervesa and banos. (beer and bathroom--hey, what can I say? Beer makes me pee.)

"Could be thirty minutes, could be three hours, no worries---drink!" The local man replied.

And I obliged. Keywest, however, could not relax. He kept muttering something about missing the boat. Finally, I couldn't stand his funk anymore.

"Look," I said, "I have our passports, I have cash and credit cards. If we miss the boat, we can fly to freakin' Belize and meet the boat there! Just relax and enjoy the view."

We sat in silence on the deck of this little bar in the middle of nowhere and watched the waves roll in and out. It was one of the most gorgeous days I can remember. I felt very quiet and very still for the first time in a long time. I didn't care if I missed the damned boat or not. I was determined to enjoy that moment.

About forty five minutes later, the cab pulled up with our gas and we were on our way. We made it back to port with plenty of time to spare. The Universe provided and all we had to do was sit back and take in the moment.

(There was a quick and hilarious detour to the bathrooms at Bob Marley House that included having to get past a couple of enormous pigs, but that's a story for another time.)

The moral of this story is that sometimes, even when things look their bleakest, you have to stop and enjoy the present moment because if you don't, you just might miss something really beautiful.