In one of my favourite films, the irrepressible Jack Nicholson, whose character is a famous author with an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, tries to visit his psychiatrist and gets turned away because he has no appointment. He walks through the waiting room and says glumly to the waiting patients, “What if this is as good as it gets?” Obviously, this is the title of the movie – and of this blog entry.
It’s funny and yet full of pathos at the same time. What if life has so little to offer? What if it is all about coping with loneliness and sickness and fear? What if there really is nothing better to come? In actual fact, Jack Nicholson’s character discovers that things can get much better when he embarks on an unusual and touching romance with a waitress who is also a devoted single mum.
For some reason, the words came back to me as I sat on a veranda in Pretoriuskop Camp in Kruger a couple of days ago: “What if this is as good as it gets?” But, unlike Jack Nicholson, I thought it with a smile. We had got up at the crack of dawn to go out and watch a pair of lions in love; we had seen the early clouds clear and the sun come out over verdant bush with wandering elephants, strolling giraffes and snuffling warthogs; we had swum in the natural rock swimming pool of the camp and then watched the monkeys playing in the trees around us; now we had a drink, pleasant company and a matchless view of the long shadows stretching across the sun-setting savannah while impala grazed in front of the cabin. If this is as good as it gets, I thought, then it’s very good.
The Loving Couple
These special moments happen in everyone’s life – and they often have nothing to do with the actual circumstances of a person’s life. Whether you are married or single, old or young, childless or with children, perfect moments can come, unexpectedly, to warm your heart and make you smile or sigh with pleasure. The important thing is to look out for them – to be open to them.
To me such moments are a gift from God – a break from the pain, the grief, the disappointments or even just the monotony of everyday life. They are also a glimpse of heaven. For that is where it really will be “as good as it gets“.
Tranquil scenery at Pretoriuskop
