The Value Of A Moment

Sometimes you will never know the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory
Dr. Suess

I was going through my file of blog posts the other day, and it occurred to me that I tend to write a lot about memories.  My wife often accuses me of living in the past, and I am beginning to think she is right.  I seem to go there a lot.

I guess there is nothing wrong with that.  I mean, it’s not like eating too much pizza.  Another slice of life won’t hurt you, but you do walk away feeling full.  However, as Dr Suess says, the value of a moment is seldom realized in the moment.  It has to sit there and ripen, until a memory finally blooms.  That’s when you pick it and press it between the pages of y0ur mind.

I have a lot of memories.  It appears I have been collecting them for years, mostly without recollection.  Moments I thought I had discarded due to age in fact had just been pushed to the bottom of the pile.  It’s kind of like writing a book whose final chapter is yet to be written.  Each day, another moment gets added.  Another page completed.  And whenever I wish, I can take it off the shelf and, opening it at random, find something that was worth saving and reliving again. 

Of course, there are the painful ones too.  Why do I hold on to those moments?  I guess because they too have value.  More often then not, they come packaged with a lesson.  Something that was  impactful enough to have indelibly remained in my subconscious, to be accessed as needed.  And, having been softened by time, they too can become mellow.  The hurt I felt in the moment has been replaced by a gentler memory.

So, I will continue to surround myself with them, good and bad.  I will add them to the pile and from time to time, dust them off.  I will cherish them as I do life itself.  They are me, and I am them.  We are one.  And, when that final chapter is written, a long time from now,  I plan to take them with me.