Moments

For most of my time on this planet, life has been a series of ups and downs; extreme highs and extreme lows, with only a few times spent somewhere in between. Over the past couple of years, there have been a handful of times where something within me made me stop to survey my life and say to myself, "Life is really amazing. I'm so happy. I'm so blessed." And they aren't necessarily the moments you'd think they'd be. I had another moment like that last night.

I was driving home from church after a Superbowl party my friends and I had thrown together. The turn-out was pretty good, and I got to spend the evening stuffing my face and watching my favorite sport with my favorite people. Everybody pitched in to make it happen, and it was pretty flawless in execution. At one point Ben, who cooked all the hotdogs for us, said to me, "Hey, thanks for putting all this together. It was a lot of fun," and those sitting around the table concurred. I thanked him but pointed out that it was a team effort, because it absolutely was, and I thanked all of them for helping out. Later, my friends Cara and Suzanne stayed long past when they were obligated to, to help me clean up the kitchen. My friend Bill closed up the building and took out the trash when he could have left much earlier. My buddy Fred texted after he left to let me know he'd come the next day to vacuum and put a spit polish on the place. I smiled and hummed softly to myself as I left the church. "I have great friends," I thought. As I turned into my apartment complex a few minutes later, I realized what struck me most about the evening was the sense of doing it all together and being a part of something that meant something to someone. Something as trivial as a Fantasy Football league really turned into something bigger and deepened our relationships with each other. You see, the older I get, the more I feel like what I'm doing in life isn't important. And God always reminds me that it's most often the littlest of things that make life rich. Things like Super Bowl parties with really amazing people.

Life is about community. If you aren't living in a good community, life doesn't have much meaning. I realized that at each of those moments in time, where I was stopped in my tracks by how amazing life was and is, it was at moments when I felt loved, supported, accepted, significant, and surrounded. Surrounded by people who made me a better person. People who I felt really liked me. Most of these moments were at times when I felt very close to my family, my friends, and God. And the times I felt the lowest in life were times when I felt the most alone. I know that isn't a coincidence. Life is easier and richer when you do it with other people.

When I get caught in one of those good moments, I try to hold onto it as long as I can, and I memorize every piece of it; every ray of sunshine, every laugh, every song, every joke, every hug, every tear. Because when the present becomes the past, all we have is the memory. And if we spend too much time waiting on the future to get here, we'll miss how amazing the present is. I sometimes wonder if I am the only person who has to consciously tell themselves, "Hey, you are having a great time. Focus. This is a great moment. Soak it up. Be present." I struggle to stop looking forward to the great things I have planned for the future and focus on the great things I am doing right now. These moments are what life is about. And I think that if you are doing life right, you'll remember so many great moments that they will just blend together into one amazing life.