“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory..”
― Dr. Seuss
(little garden friend / Julie Cook / 2014)
Hindsight is 20 / 20
Oh the mantra of many an adult.
Almost anyone over 40 can often be heard to opine and lament over the days that were. Wistfully looking back over the events of our lives—you know the ones–the ones we rushed through in order to hurry on to the other things that seemed oh so terribly important at the time, which now in hindsight, paled in comparison to what we were trying to rush away in the first place.
Those of us with grown children understand all too well the importance of the value of the memorable moments of our lives they have come and gone. . . We were often so busy as young parents that we didn’t pay full attention to the really important little milestones of our children’s growth and development, but rather hurriedly looked past those on to what we imagined to be the more important and much bigger events. . . that we sadly bypassed those real moments for what we falsely presumed to be bigger and better.
We were so busy living a vicious cycle of rushing through life, or rushing from life, to some important meeting, or event, that we often missed out on what really mattered. Now that everyone is grown, we realize that we allowed those other less important moments to rob us of what was actually precious time, which is now sadly all but a memory.
How many older individuals are often heard to mourn “if only I had had more time, made more time, did things differently, cared more, cared less, worked less, played more, enjoyed more, rushed less. . .”
Maybe it’s all just a matter of age and the differences of the generations. . .
The folly of youth with their “devil may care” attitude verses the melancholy nostalgia of older generations.
Perhaps it’s time that we pause for a moment. . .pausing in order to take inventory, to take stock, to reflect—contemplating what really and truly matters in our lives and of the lives of those we love. Doing so before we allow any more precious time to pass us by, leaving us with only the memories and the regret of not having “been in the moment” during the time those memories were of the present.
No one is promised a tomorrow.
Yesterday is over and done.
Today is it.
It’s all we’ve got.
The question of today, of the moment, is “How do you want to spend this one day, the only day, which you know is the only one you’ve really got?
The answer will be of tremendous consequence—not only for today, but for tomorrow, if you’re lucky and have a tomorrow . . .and not only for ourselves but for the ones we love.
So go ahead and ask. . .How do you want to spend this one day?. . . Remember, it’s really all you’ve got.
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