Life is not static. I’m not going to wake up one morning, look around at all I’ve done and say, “I’ve arrived. Now is the time to enjoy this place as it is.” But it seems that many of us spend our lives working toward that day. We plod through life enduring each day thinking, “Once I get promoted, once I pay off my debt, once I get married, once we have kids, once the kids are out of diapers, once soccer season ends,” and the beat goes on… Meanwhile, we accrue life experiences and breath-taking moments that we look back on with nostalgia and sometimes a sense of outrage with oneself. “How could I have been in that moment and NOT realized how special it was right then?”

Sure, you probably enjoyed the moment, we usually do. Maybe it was something big like earning your graduate degree while working full time and raising two kids. You walked on that stage with a big smile on your face, shook the Dean’s hand, proudly posed with your diploma, had a great party with family and friends afterward; it was a big deal. But did you give the moment the credit it deserved in that quiet space where you erase all regrets about yesterday and push aside worries and plans for tomorrow and just immerse yourself in the feeling of pride, accomplishment, excitement and hope that the moment offered right then and there? Most likely not until after it had passed.

Or what about those moments in life that aren’t so headline-monumental, but still meaningful when looking back? For me it might be something like sitting on my best friend’s couch, sipping a good wine and listening to her tell me about her decision to stay at home and care for her son. In that moment of sharing and intimacy, I realize that I have a friend who trusts me to understand her deepest thoughts and fears despite our different life circumstances and paths. I understand that it’s not all about being the Maid of Honor in her wedding or godmother to her son, it’s a connection we have that surpasses the symbolic parts of friendship and is there even when we don’t talk for three weeks. In that moment I realize that THIS is life. And life is good.

How can you not enjoy the moment when a cat wants to snuggle on your chest?

So as I continue on the journey of my life, taking completely unexpected detours and encountering unplanned forks in the road, I try to enjoy the scenery as it was meant to be enjoyed. After all, that’s half the fun of a good trip, right? Even as I make big decisions that change everything, there will never come that moment when I look around, exhale with relief and say, “NOW it is done.” Because I truly believe that when that moment arrives, it will be my last exhale. And I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way, when I really think about it!