The Perfect Day In A Perfect Life

Opening my eyes, I look out the window, the sky is still dark but I can see hints of a new day creeping across the fresh morning clouds. I smile and turn off my alarm, which has yet to sound. Walking to the window, I open it and close my eyes, inhaling the cool, moist air deep into my lungs. As I exhale I focus only on the breath flowing slowly through my body. I inhale again and I feel the energy of the earth filling me right down to my toes.

The evergreens in front of my home roll together into a vast valley of dark green that breathes with me. In the distance I can see the mountains rising up from the forest, sharp walls of limestone that reach up and fight to conquer the sky. The sun begins its slow ascent and I can only smile and marvel at the absolute beauty surrounding me.

I put on a long pair of shorts and walk downstairs with a t-shirt in hand. It's 5:30am and my mind is clear. In the kitchen, I cut up fresh fruit and vegetables and blend them together. I wander out onto the patio and once again take in the incredible scenery. Although I am privileged enough to wake up to this every morning, I can never stop appreciating it in absolute awe. I slowly finish my drink and move back inside to grab my pack. After putting on my runners, I grab my crash pad and call to Charlie. He runs in from the living room, his golden fur is silky and full as he rubs up against my leg and looks up at me with unconditional love.

We step out of the house together and jog down the lane to the road. There aren't many houses in this area, it's a 45 minute drive from the city so it is quiet and relatively unharmed. About 5 minutes down the road, I lead us into the forest along a small trail. The sun is throwing itself across the sky now and although the thick trees block much of the light, I smile at the orange shards of sun passing the tops of trees above my head. I know this path like the back of my hand, and I close my eyes for a few seconds to inhale the sweet smell of evergreen that surrounds me.

After 20 minutes we reach the foot of some low cliffs and I sit down near the base on some rocks. Charlie hops up beside me and rests his head on my lap. I reach into my pack and pull out some food for him and he eats hungrily. I have a few bites of some granola that I'd made the night before and begin to lay out the crash pad. My climbing gear is in my pack and once I've stretched, I put on my shoes and rub some chalk on my hands. As I caress the chalk against my fingers, thousands of little white particles dance into the morning air, floating up against gravity, swirling around one another in perfect harmony.

I kneel down on the pad and once again focus on my breath. We never know what today will hold, so I focus my soul on the only thing I do know for sure, this moment. After a minute I stand up and put my hands on the cool rock. Immediately I feel a connection to it, I'm not an outsider that is trying to conquer it, I am a part of it, I experience it just as it experiences me. My body moulds to it and with that connection, I flow easily along it's surface as if we were one. My hands and feet glide smoothly across it as the sun eventually works it's way over the tips of the trees and showers me with warmth.

Charlie is running around below, he loves this area and as I climb, he chases birds and squirrels, ever hopeful to make new friends.

The top of the cliff is only 20 feet tall and once there, I can sit and see the full view of the brilliant orange sun. With mountains to my right, a bed of lush forest in front of me, and the ocean stretching to the edge of the earth beyond that, I can do nothing but smile as my heart fills with love. The sun flows liquid gold across the distant water and I notice a tear drip down my cheek. I have to keep asking myself, 'Why am I so lucky? What did I do to deserve this?' As long as I remain aware, I can continue to appreciate it.

I don't know how much time passes but eventually I climb down and continue moving rhythmically along the rocks, not fully conscious of every movement, simply allowing myself to flow freely in all directions. When my muscles begin to feel tight, I sit back down on the mat and Charlie joins me. I pack up the gear and jog back home to shower.

Feeling refreshed, I sit down at my computer to go over my to do list that I had prepared the night before. Because I know exactly what needs to get done, I work efficiently and within two hours I've finished what would have taken me five hours in the past. A lot of this is maintenance of my businesses, which allow me the freedom to live in the beautiful place that I do, and to spend the remainder of my day on what I'm most passionate about.

With my list out of the way, I pick up the phone and start making calls. I'm organizing a mixed team of elementary, secondary, and post-secondary students to travel to Cambodia to see and experience the life there. As the phone rings, my mind goes back to my first time in Pursat and the memories and emotions flood in. I remember it as the most life changing experience that I've ever had and it strengthens my conviction to keep leading these teams of students halfway across the world so that they may make a difference one day too.

After a brief conversation, I hang up the phone and can't help but smile in wonder at the way life operates. Yesterday I had been sitting in Starbucks having a coffee and made eye contact with an older gentleman sitting across the shop. Something inside of me felt like I should talk to him so I walked over and introduced myself. We chatted for an hour about our lives and more specifically about the organization, Out of Comfort, that I run these trips through. He gave me his business card and asked me to call him this morning. On the phone he told me that he'd looked into the organization and wants to sponsor the entire cost of our next trip! I'm ecstatic, and once again floored by the generosity of others.

It reminds me of being younger and feeling skeptical about the number of good people left on the earth, but I've come to realize that we meet exactly who we want to and I can now marvel at all of the incredible people that come in and out of my life.

After some more planning, I break for lunch and mix a salad of fresh vegetables from the garden. Something is tugging on my mind and I find myself looking more and more at the clock. I'm trying my best to slow down and enjoy every bite, but I can't help it. My wife, and co-founder of Out of Comfort, Moriko has been in Cambodia for the last 12 weeks, working with our local staff there to finalize the development plans for a new project that is going to help over 100,000 people get access to fresh water - a joint project with HOPE International. She is coming home this evening and words cannot express how much I've missed her.

When I think about the time that we spend apart, my mind often tells me that we shouldn't do it, it's too hard, but I know in my heart the importance of us following our dreams. I know we will be together, and I know we will be happy as long as we are able to accomplish the things that in our hearts are most important. As my mind plays with this concept, I can't help but be filled with gratitude that I met such an incredible woman who shares similar passions to mine, even if it means that we spend a few months of every year on opposite sides of the world.

I take five minutes to allow myself to fully appreciate her. I think about all of the incredible things that she stands for, I think about her strength and conviction, about her drive and her focus. I think about the little things she does that mean the world to me; the way she kisses my neck every morning when we wake up, how she remembers the things in my life that are important to me, how she always stands by me when I struggle. As I think about all this, I'm filled with a love too intense for words. It wells up inside of me until I feel like I might burst; for this woman, I would do anything.

I work for another hour, and then make my way into the city to meet my friend, and business partner, for coffee. We sit outside in the summer heat and talk. We exchange new ideas and books that we've read recently, we share our experiences with the projects we both have going on, and talk about absolutely anything that's on our minds. The time fades quickly and before I know it, it's 4:00pm and I need to get some things together for the evening. We give each other a hug and part ways.

Getting back in the car, I head down to the water and park. It's a short walk along the seawall to an open market that is full of fresh ingredients and smiling faces. Wandering through the stalls, I pick up fruits and vegetables for dinner and make my way back alongside the shimmering water to the car. Once home, I prepare for the night, and have just enough time to create my to do list for the next morning before getting back in the car and going to the airport.

I meet Moriko with a bouquet of flowers, and as we hold each other I stare deeply into her beautiful brown eyes and she smiles up at me as the world melts away in silent ecstasy. As I look at her, the intensity of my love fills me up again and words seem so unnecessary. I take her bag and we walk hand in hand back to the car and make our way home. She tells me about the trip with a passion that I rarely see in people. I listen to her every word, in complete awe of this woman that I've been married to for 8 years and still feel every bit in love with her as the day we first met.

When we get inside the house, she wraps her arms around my waist and holds me tightly. We long for these quiet moments where once again we are alone. These moments where our lips meet in graceful seduction, where eyes caress, and touch creates passionate madness that leaves us exhausted and enclosed in each other's firm embrace. These are the moments that belong solely to us, and no one else.

She asks me how my day has been and we lie together and talk before I realize that it's almost 8:00pm and we need to go. I grab a bag that I prepared earlier and lead her by her hand out of the house, down the road, and into the forest. We walk for 15 minutes until we reach some more low cliffs. I lead her around the back of them and up a hidden path to the top. Asking her to close her eyes, I lead her slowly out on to the ledge. We sit on a mat that I've set up and she opens her eyes to the brilliant orange of the sun setting. The beauty is like no other and I look over to see that she has tears in her eyes. We both remain silent, knowing exactly what the other is thinking and not needing to fill the moment with anything else but the beauty of the world surrounding us.

Once the sun has set, I bring out candles and food and we have a light dinner and talk more about the time we've been apart. It's not easy for either of us, but we both understand the importance of taking responsibility for our own dreams and so we listen to each other with complete focus. As the night sky finally loses the last touches of light, we blow out the candles, I pull a blanket over us and we lie wrapped in each other's embrace, under the light of the stars until eventually a new day is born and we start fresh.