A story told by Benjamin Zander in his book
“The Art of Possibility”.
“Waiter,” said Ben, in an exuberant mood,
“I have a perfect life, but I don’t have a knife.”
I was having breakfast with a friend on one
of my periodic visits to London to conduct the Philharmonic Orchestra. I heard
giggles behind me and, turning around, caught the eye of a girl of about twelve
with a typically English pudding-bowl haircut. We exchanged smiles, and then I
went back to my conversation and to my breakfast.
The next day, I passed the young lady again
in the breakfast room and stopped to speak with her.
“Good morning. How are you today?”
She drew herself up ever so slightly and,
with a tilt to her chin and a sparkle in her eye, answered me.
“Perfect,” she said.
Later, when she was leaving with her
parents, I called out mischievously, “Have a perfect day!”
“I will!” she responded, as though it were
the easiest, most obvious choice in the world.
And with that she said out into a universe
of possibility.
What
is to say that life couldn’t be perfect for each of us every day? I honestly
believe it could be if we really set our target by designing our life to be the
life that inspires us and those around us.
