Live In The Moment

There have only been a few times in my life that I can remember actually "living in the moment". One of those times was work related when I got recognized by the President and two Vice Presidents of a company I worked for. I'd been working on a company training program for two years and finally got a chance to implement it. I travelled to Chicago to run this week long session for other employees. It was December, around the holidays, and the district Christmas party was scheduled for that weekend. I made arrangements to stay for the party and I knew that the President and one of the VP's would be there.

I didn't know at the time, but during the party, quite a few of my "students" from that week were approaching the two company principals and thanking them for sending me to train them. They truly appreciated the skills they learned and told them I did a great job. The VP, who had a reputation for not being such a warm and fuzzy guy, told me that they didn't know I was there let alone that the training was going on. He also told me not to worry about it because I did a great job based on the feedback he heard.

Another VP that was not at the party, was the guy in charge of the training program. When I approached him a couple of years before this, we talked about what I had already written and my ideas for the training program. He told me he didn't think I had the "talent" to pull it off. I took that as a personal challenge and made it my goal to prove him wrong. Two years later, at an annual management seminar, he stood up in front of 400 company employees and praised my efforts in getting the program completed and implemented. I achieved my goal and he actually seemed happy that I proved him wrong.

Back to the Chicago trip. The day after the party I got a ride to the airport with the not so warm and fuzzy VP and he reiterated what others had told him about me. He also said that the President was very happy that it was successful. I just basked in the glow of what I felt to be a huge personal victory. I was so high on that feeling I probably could have flown home without a plane that day. I was definitely living in the moment.

Other living in the moment times were at both of my son's Bar Mitzvahs and my wedding day. I was so proud of each of the boys as they flawlessly recited their parts, I just couldn't stop smiling. And my wedding day? Well, as much as I crowed that I'd never get married or have kids, it was definitely one of the best things that ever happened to me. I honestly don't know where my life would be wihtout my wife and kids. There were also those times during our homeschooling years when my kids would shine. Whether it was during homeschool sports events, or the talent show, I could not have been more proud and really enjoyed those moments.

I'm sure there were more of these moments, but these are the one's that stand out to me. And although I remember those as happy and proud moments in my life, I'm not sure I truly understood what the phrase "living in the moment" actually meant until recently.

A few years ago, my wife and I decided to purchase a summer home near the beach. Actually, we own about 20% of it, the bank owns the rest. We are certainly not what I would consider wealthy people, but we were fortunate to have been able to find a way to make a down payment on this beach house. It's a small condo about a block from the beach and our balcony faces the ocean, so we can see and sometimes hear the waves crashing on the beach. It's really very nice and has certainly become our happy place. It's still kind of surreal to me that we made this leap.

I was sitting on the beach one afternoon feeling greatful, thankful, humble, and happy. It's the kind of happy where you're almost giddy. However, there's always those thoughts in the back of my mind that when I feel this happy, something is about to happen to bring me back to earth and turn that giddy feeling into. . .well. . .the opposite of giddy. My mind could easily wander to, "now that we have this place, what if something happens and we can't afford to make the payments?" Or, "What if something happens to me or my wife, what would we do then?" And any number of negative thoughts that may come to mind.

On this particular day with my toes in the sand, the warm sun shining on my face, a cool ocean breeze going through what's left of my hair, and the huge ocean in front of me, I told myself to live in the moment. Enjoy what you have right here right now. Nothing can take away that feeling if you don't let it and just enjoy it while you have it. None of those negative thoughts matter right now because at this moment I'm feeling great. Giddy, happy, ecstatic, whatever you want to call it, I wanted to live in the moment. . .and I did. Just like writing and then implementing the training program, it was a challenge and an accomplishment that we made our dream of having a beach house happen, and I'm proud that we were able to pull it off together.

Can crappy stuff still happen? Sure it can, but when the good stuff in life happens and you have those giddy moments, remember to live in that moment. Enjoy the personal victories, the proud moments, and the occasional giddiness when they happen. You never know when another moment will come along.