There are so many moments that make up our experience. There are those monumental moments that are etched into your memory forever, and then there are the small moments that pass in a blink of an eye, but remain somewhere in your mind. They are the memories that surface when you see something familiar, smell a certain aroma, or hear a song that brings it all back. Both of these things shape us, and come together to create our collective experience. One thing I was thinking about today is that, if things in our lives are out of balance, and we expend a great deal of energy focusing on negative things, we may just miss out on magical moments. I don't want to miss those things. I don't want to be so focused on other things that I miss out on when my kids do something sweet or funny, or when I see something beautiful. Today, I had a few moments that I will always remember, and I am so glad I wasn't rushing around to do something else. I got to be there for some really great moments.
My baby took her first step today. She was standing holding on to a chair, and her dad was getting ready to leave. She didn't want that. She reached for him, let go of the chair and took a step into his arms. It was amazing! There was a pause, where I was thinking 'No way, did that actually just happen?', and then my husband and I looked at each other and realized it did. Baby was so excited because she got her daddy - I'm not sure she even realized she walked. What a monumental moment! This was one of those big ones. It made me remember when my first daughter took her first step in our little fourplex hallway. She was at the end of her tenth month, and from that moment on, she walked and ran everywhere. My little one has gone at things head on since she was born, and I shouldn't really be surprise that she was a month ahead of her big sister. After all, she has someone older and faster to keep up with. Add this to her first words, first funny faces, first foods, and it's flying by in the blink of an eye. I wish I could pause time and capture each of these beautiful moments, but I will have to settle for documenting my memories, and cherishing them.
There are those little moments too, like roasting marshmallows over the fire in my backyard, and watching my five year old get totally covered in sticky, sugary goo, and then attempting in vain to lick it off. It's seeing my baby look at the fire in wonderment and trying to catch the smoke in her hands. It's watching the kids run around after bubbles as they fly away on the wind. It's baking cookies and licking the spoons. It's dancing in your living room with no rhythm whatsoever, and not caring. It's singing at the top of your lungs in the car as you drive down the highway. Those moments are the ones that shape our experience, just as much as the huge ones. I find that if I'm too caught up in getting work done, or stressing out at messy fingers, or getting where I need to go quickly, I miss out on those moments. As I find more balance in my life, those moments become more and more noticeable, and I'm really thankful for it.
It's wonderful to accomplish things. It's great to make sure you have it all under control, and run around like crazy trying to maintain it. It's a good thing to keep to schedules, be on time, and be reliable. But let's not get caught up in those things and make them our reason for living. It's the moments that matter that will get lost if we don't take a step back once in a while. I don't know about you, but I don't want to miss those sticky, gooey moments just so I can be on time and keep to my schedule. That old saying, 'Take some time to smell the roses' may be cliche, but there is something to it. Once in a while we need to stop. We need to see the beauty that happens to be all around us. If we don't, and we end up railroading through life, what's the point? We get to the end and it's a blur. Life moves too quickly not to enjoy it. I've written about letting go of the past, and about being positive, and many other things. All those things are a part of what makes life worth living. Many of us find ourselves in circumstances that are frustrating, painful, difficult or confusing. We certainly need to focus on things to help. We must do what we can with what we have. But I say, let's take a moment today to look past all that tries to hold us down and notice the beautiful things in life. My mom used to always tell me to 'look on the bright side' and usually it made me mad. I wanted to stew in whatever was bringing me down, but then I would take her advice, and it actually helped me cope better.
Life is made up of so many moments. I don't want to miss the great ones, like baby's first steps and sticky marshmallows. I want to be there for them, and not get caught up in all the other stuff that makes up the mechanics of our lives. Finding balance is finding time for the moments.
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