Appreciate The Moment

It’s been a crazy couple of days. My daughter is a high school senior. That being said, schedules with her final concerts, rehearsals, upcoming banquets, etc. have our calendar pretty full.

I spoke with another parent of a senior over the weekend as we were chaperoning the girls’ last jazz band competition. She commented about how everything seemed a bit surreal right now … the last one of this and the last one of that, starting to prep for a graduation party, college to do lists, etc.

There are times when I catch myself saying “just as soon as this or that is done I’ll squeeze in some time for something else.” Lately people will ask my daughter if she’s ready for her senior year in high school to be over with. To which she usually says, “If anything I’m trying to slow it down.” She’s looking forward to college and all the new things that’ll come with it, but at the same time she’s trying to enjoy every last minute of high school. These are times she’ll only experience once and the fact is – she’ll never get them back or have a chance to re-do them.

Yesterday we all experienced the tragic news of the bombings at the Boston Marathon. Five minutes of horrific stories recanted on the news and I’m suddenly reprioritizing my day and my life. No one who trained for months to run in yesterday’s race or traveled to cheer on a family member expected their day to take on the course that it did. In reality we are sadly reminded that there are mean, selfish people everywhere. No one is immune to them. Unfortunately, we don’t have control over every aspect of our lives. I’m sure we all wish that we did, but the fact of the matter is that we don’t.

What can we do? In the grand scheme of things we can pray for those who were injured and pray for the families of those who were lost. We can tell our spouses to ‘drive safe’ when they leave in the morning. We can give our kids a hug and tell them we love them tonight when we tuck them in. We can be thankful for the roofs over our heads and the food we ate during the day. We can pray for those who are sick and wish them a full and speedy recovery. We can lend a helping hand to our neighbor. AND we can be thankful that we are alive and have daily stresses to deal with. It beats the alternative.

Today I will take a few minutes to look up at the blue sky that we’ve waited weeks for. I’ll smell the fresh air that is currently coming in my window. I will smile as I see a little child laughing outside. I will be thankful for right now and appreciate the moment.