(16) little moments of zen

Such as when, for example, your office manager takes you to task for not taking care of the company vice president's printer in a timely manner, and you feel the unjustness of the lecture very much, because the Vice President actually told you that "anytime is fine," so yes, you did take care of more urgent tasks first; and the office manager is inflexible in this matter (making it clear that she feels you're just making excuses, which which in turn makes you all defensive, because the VP gave you explicit permission, whatever he subsequently said to the office manager, to drop this item low on the priority list): the vice president is always to be a priority. And so later, when you tell the VP you're staying late in order to get the VP's printer operational again, and he says, clearly and within the office manager's hearing, "really, it's okay, you don't have to stay late, just whenever you have time," you end up staying late anyway just to put this task to bed once and for all, and your work is made easier by the thought that you've just had the universe unexpectedly work in your favor. And it's a tiny, unimportant thing, really, but it makes you smile.