From this picture you’d think that Mr. Cooper was fooling around, perhaps playing it up for the camera?  Pay closer attention though and you’ll see a very strange and wonderful phenomena.  If you haven’t noticed it yet, that empty bucket is, in fact, a puke bucket and our little trooper has caught the stomach bug that his brother had this past weekend.

So, what did I learn from this little man?  Less than 180 seconds before I took this picture, he had released most of his afternoon snack into said bucket.  Undeterred by that experience, he was still willing to lend a smile.  The secret here, I think, is that these little people live so much in the moment.  Cynicism, Pessimism and other such isms haven’t taken root in our little man.  Sure, he was sick just minutes before but he is innocent enough not to realize that he’s going to get sick again.   He smiles because he’s in the moment… he sees his dad with a camera and happily shares the moment, completely unaware of just how awful he will feel again.

So, the next time I’m feeling bad I think I’ll come back to this post and remind myself that living in the moment isn’t all that bad an idea.  You should try it too.