“As if you could
kill time without
injuring eternity.”
Henry David Thoreau

Once-in-a-lifetime experiences are more common than one might realize. As I reflect on my own life, I recall seeing Senator Robert Kennedy in San Francisco approximately thirty hours before his assassination in June 1968; watching a spectacular sunset in Montego Bay, Jamaica on August 11, 1971; enjoying an unexpected breakfast conversation with UCLA men’s basketball coach John Wooden in the summer of 1974; and sitting in a comfortable chair outside my home in Santa Clara at about 3:00 a.m. watching a total lunar eclipse in July 1982. 

I have vivid recollections of sitting at a table for lunch with 49ers’ head coach Bill Walsh, former Raiders’ head coach John Madden, and 49ers’ defensive coordinator Bill McPherson (the father of one of my former students) at the Niners’ training facility in Rocklin, California in August 1983; being present for the birth of our first son, Tom, on May 2, 1986; seeing Pope John Paul II (from a distance of about 20 yards) as he entered Candlestick Park to celebrate Mass in September 1987; and meeting 49ers’ Hall of Fame running back Roger Craig at a high school football game in the fall of 1996.

I say that such experiences are more common than one might realize because the ones I’ve described involve, for the most part, famous people. In reality, everything we experience each day we are alive is a once-in-a-lifetime event.

This morning, I enjoyed a bowl of oatmeal with dried cherries for breakfast. In some ways, it was nothing special, as that’s what I eat for breakfast almost every day. Today, however, after learning a valuable life lesson yesterday, eating my breakfast was an entirely new experience.

Never before had I eaten THAT bowl of oatmeal or consumed those particular cherries. It was “California cold” here this morning — 32º outside. Rarely do we experience freezing temperatures here in the Santa Clara Valley. I ate my oatmeal sitting here at my desk in my home office, something I rarely do. As I savored each bite, I was grateful for the warmth it provided on such a cold morning and aware of the uniqueness of the moment.

The lesson I learned yesterday is about a Japanese concept known as ichigo ichie, which can be translated to “one time, one meeting.” This idiom calls us to acknowledge that each interaction and experience in life is singular and irreplaceable. It reminds us to cherish every moment of every day, recognizing that these precise times and events cannot be duplicated.

Since each life encounter is, in reality, a once-in-a-lifetime experience, we are invited and encouraged to treasure each moment, recognizing its uniqueness. 

Embracing ichigo ichie allows us to be more aware of the richness of everyday experiences. This also allows us to enjoy a more meaningful engagement with life’s fleeting, but precious moments, and to do so with mindfulness and gratitude.