Every moment in time is unique, 

and unrepeatable.  

Being unawakened beings, upon recalling an enjoyable experience, we often find ourselves musing about how delighted we felt at the time. And so we try to recapture the feeling by duplicating what happened. But we can’t.

The conditions that caused it—people, places, objects, our thoughts—all came together for a brief instant. In a flash, they changed because everything in samsara flows in constant flux. The conditions may be similar, but never identical. Besides, even if they were, our expectations would add a new variable to the old equation.

Repeating what happened and the enjoyment we felt would become all the more impossible.

So rather than try to recreate the magical thermos of coffee delightedly sipped on that long drive home, be grateful for the coffee you’re savoring. If the old memory arises, observe it but don’t crave to repeat it.

You can’t, and that’s fine.