A Moment Forever

Life seems too short, doesn’t it? It would be nice if you could make all your mistakes, get it all together, show up somewhere, and say, “Okay, I’ve figured it out. I’m ready.”But it doesn’t work like that. We’re given some time, and we don’t know how much.

In the beginning, we’re not aware of responsibilities, about right and wrong, about being human. But we have a thirst—to be happy—whatever that means. As a child, the level of optimism is at an all-time high. Whatever happened yesterday happened, but today is today. We call this innocence, and this state is beautiful.

Then you go through the period of learning, the alphabet—A, B, Cs.... You don’t know why A is A. It just is. You don’t know why one is one. It just is. And you are tested on it. This keeps on going; you are being prepped to go out into the world. You give up on your ideas and take on the ideas that society gives you. This is defined as responsibility.

Then, one day, an amazing thing happens. You hear: “The happiness that you want in your life is within you.” You recognize that joy is embedded within you—not in logic, but in the innocence of the heart. This need for fulfillment is a human being’s true passion. This is a passion that, against all odds, has survived all of our discoveries, turmoil, successes, failures, disasters, and catastrophes. Though languages have been forgotten, customs that survived for thousands of years have been forgotten, somehow, however fragile it may seem, the quest to be fulfilled has survived.

Today we have an opportunity to be fulfilled, to be happy. There is no rewind button. When I come home to this moment called now, I find my gratitude. Every fiber in my being comes alive and my heart dances. I have no quest for tomorrow, or even the moment yet to come. Now is a moment I could live in forever.