Own The Moment

The soft rain soaks into the landscape as the progression of life flows into the next stage. The saying goes that the brightest flame burns quickest and that’s certainly true for the native trout lily.

The same trout lily in the Featured Image is the one that I published on March 31st 2021. The flower fades and the seed pod is formed in less than a month. I’ve often thought about how the one thing that can be owned by a human being is that very moment we exist in. Once it’s gone it’s inaccessible to us on this side of eternity. The seeds will mature and replenish the forest floor and this same plant will shed it’s leaves and exist only as a dormant root until it’s next season. We have only a few days to enjoy it when it blooms.

Life is finite of course. As Gen-Xers my friends and I would sometimes look at each other and ask “Do you want to live forever?” The correct answer was always something to the effect of “Not on this Earth.” It was cerpe diem in action. The recognition of mortality and the knowledge that we have only a short period to enjoy the full spectrum of life experiences. A few scars will make for interesting stories to share in line while waiting for St. Peter to open the gates.

But a full life can’t always be full throttle. How can we say that we actually had a full experience if we blow through at a hundred miles per hour? We get to the end and we can say that we saw something but we cannot describe what we saw beyond a few words. Was it just a yellow flower growing in the forest? Or was it a miracle of creation that played out before our eyes. Seize the day was never meant to encourage us to live fast but to take the time to truly live. To feel the wind fill your lungs and allow the sun to wash over your skin is a life beyond mere existence.

The moment that’s in your reach right now is the only moment you own. Don’t speed through it in an effort to stockpile accomplishments but rather stretch it out and truly own it.

Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.