The Best Minute of My Life

This past week (on Monday night/Tuesday morning), I was pulled from bed to go outside and witness a rare astronomical event, the first of four Blood Moons.   On Tuesday evening, I caught up on some of my television viewing by watching the third episode of Cosmos where I learned, for the first time, about the relationship between Edmond Halley, Christopher Wren, Robert Hooke, and Isaac Newton and how it was Edmond Halley who financed Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica,one of the greatest scientific treatises of all time.  And today, I am confronted with the news (see below) that a planet has been found that exists in the Goldilocks range (the habitable zone) of a nearby (500 light years away) solar system. 

As I reflect on all these celestial and scientific marvels, I am mindful that any attempt to single out the best minute of my life may actually be subject to Heisenberg's principle of uncertainty in that any attempt to observe the best minute of my life in retrospect is colored by the age and perspective of the observer at the time of observation.  Over time, the validity of the observation changes and the value of the moment can vary.  

Or perhaps it is Einstein's theory of relativity that affects my assessment of what might be the best minute of my life.  The perception of the candidate moments for such a designation varies based upon the observation of the minute at any particular space and time in my life.

However, ultimately, in going through the process of thinking about the best minute of my life, simply thinking about all the moments of joy and happiness that I have experienced brought a great smile to my face.  To realize that I have been fortunate enough to have so many moments indicated that I have had a good life ... a blessed life.   And in the process of mentally reliving all those moments and reaching the conclusion that I reached, it dawned on me that that moment of "awakening" just might be the best minute of my life.  

Peace.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/kepler-finds-new-earth-like-planet-500-light-years-away/