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In the moment
This pandemic has had a lot of unforeseen consequences, some bad, but some good. As I sit in my house waiting for things to get better, I have been thinking about what positive things I hope come out of this - what I hope changes for the better.
As I thought about this, one theme kept coming to mind - and that was how many of us took pre-quarantine life for granted. I know no one could’ve predicted something like this happening, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t taking several aspects of daily life for granted. Being able to give a hug to a friend or loved one, or even just being able to see a friend or loved one, is something I never thought would be taken away from me, but here we are.
Personally, as a college student, I didn’t know that when I left campus for spring break I was actually leaving for the rest of the semester. I had two really important midterms the Friday before spring break, so I spent all of Thursday and Thursday night studying. This meant that I did not go to two different social gatherings that were happening that night as I wanted to get a good grade on these exams. However, by not going to these gatherings, I missed out on what would’ve been my last opportunity to hang out with a select group of graduating seniors. I’m not saying this to be a downer, but because of not knowing what the future held, and because of people moving on with their lives and leaving Dallas, there is a large handful of people who I will probably never see again in person.
So… how do we learn from that? As I thought about what positive thing I hoped would come out of this pandemic, the one thing I keep landing on is that I want people to live more in the moment. I’m sure you’ve heard some variation of the saying, “you never know what tomorrow will hold so live each day like it might be your last.” I think these times are proof that you truly do not and cannot guess what tomorrow will hold.
My prayer is that through this pandemic people will stop taking the small things in life for granted - that they’ll embrace each day as a gift and take advantage of everything it has to offer. I think people, especially myself, get way too caught up in trying to live for the future - but I’ve recently learned that I don’t think that is the best way to live. Don’t get me wrong, it is incredibly important to plan and be smart about your future and your decisions, but don’t look past what is right in front of you.
So that is my challenge to you this week (and every day thereafter): Live in the moment! Take advantage of every opportunity no matter how big or how small. Try to pack as much life into every day and pour into those around you. Because we don’t know what tomorrow will hold, just take a breath, and embrace what is in front of you today.
Stay Motivated,
-Dan
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