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Just before he died, my grandfather was lying in his bed all day, he could barely move, and was in a lot of pain. I remember however the twinkling in his eyes when he told me: 'Bart, life only gets better when you get older". I think he was just so happy for me that I had my whole life ahead of me, knowing that I - as he did himself - would discover the secret of life.

My gradfather wasn't a religious man. Neither did he work on improving himself much, especially not after he retired at the age of 55. Most of his time he spent fishing, because that's just what he liked doing most. So were did he get this wisdom from?

Today I shot some hoopes at the basketball field across my apartment since a long time. When I was younger I did that every day for at least 7 years in a row. Today I felt like my younger me again. Thinking of nothing, just shooting hoops. For long I considered this a waste of my time, but today I thought of my grandfather fishing all day, almost every day for more than 30 years in a row.

Is it really a waste of time to constantly do what you like to do most? Suppose you had all the money in the world, would you do what you like to do most every day? And would that be enough to make this world a better place? Can I really let go of all my thoughts, telling me that there are so many other things I 'need' to do to live a good life?

When I'm meditating in the morning, it often happens that I flow into such a deep meditation that there is only stillness, nothingness, just me being here NOW, thinking of nothing, feeling love and strength and worthiness and joy and pleasure all at the same time. And that feels so right to me that I want to be in that state as much as possible.

I never had the chance to ask him, but I think my grandfather got the same feeling or similar feeling from fishing. Knowing that such peace exists, makes you laugh at all the illusionary stuff that's happening in your movie, and makes you conscious of all the distractions from being in the NOW.

So, even though he never told me, I believe that my grandfather truly mastered the skill of being in the NOW, which truly is the secret of living an increasingly happy life!