Someone once said “We do not remember days; we remember moments.” I agree with this. Each day is filled with so many moments we really don’t remember them all, but I also find that when I live in the moment I am able to grab more of them, and sometimes much of a day is recorded in my heart by consciously memorizing moments.
I’m doing this little happiness challenge because I know I’m in some of the hardest weeks of my year. It was late last night when my youngest daughter, who is a terrible sleeper, finally gave up:
Today I admit I feel a lot like she looks. I haven’t had enough sleep in weeks, and this morning as I held a grouchy toddler on my lap I almost fell asleep doing it! And yet, there is nothing I can do to slow down just yet. The sprint must continue.
In a few minutes I will leave to pick up 7 children from school early, drive two of them home as a favor to a friend, then take the others back to the school (feeding them lunch in the car) for some end-of-year testing. From there we will pick up my older students and begin the weekly shuttling that piano lessons require. Sandwiched in there we have math homework to complete, an after school obligation, and a soccer game to get ready for. I don’t yet know how I’m going to get the soccer player to her game on time and the kids home from piano. I don’t know how the house will get clean for tonight’s party or what my family will eat for dinner while I host another party. I know it will all work out; I just don’t know how to make some of it work yet, and that’s a stress. As I’ve had these thoughts racing through my mind all morning, I realized that I am making my day harder by worrying about it all at once. It’s not even noon and I’m worried about 5 pm and 7 pm and so forth.
So I took a deep breath and remembered that I can lighten my load if I deal with the day sequentially. I’ll tackle what’s in front of me right now, and soon I will have navigated the day successfully. I can also remind myself that I knew this day would be nuts, which is why I got everything ready for the party in advance. Relief!
My #1 priority for the next 10 hours is to live in the moment. There is so much to enjoy if I’m not racing ahead of myself mentally. The top picture of my daughter giggling on my bed came in a stressful moment and I’m so glad now that I paused to enjoy her for 30 seconds.
I paused at the soccer field on Saturday to marvel at the beauty of the location, the beauty of the mountains, the green grass, the clouds and sky. I turned in a circle and took in every angle, wishing my husband was there with me to enjoy it. I memoried it, and have re-lived it in my mind many times since. The moment is frozen in my heart as a happy one simply because I paused.
Yesterday was a rush as well. How glad I am today that I paused for a moment to read and photograph this to-do list, created by my daughter before she left for school. The chalkboard is now covered with something else and that sweet list is gone. I’m so glad I read it and shared it, because the Smiths, who were driving for 8 hours to get to our house, enjoyed it too.
I’m setting my timer for 15 minutes to clean as fast as I can. Then we’re off for several hours. Before I go to bed tonight I will write in my journal at least 5 moments I was present for, 5 moments I memorized because I wasn’t rushing ahead.
I hope you’ll join me!
Jennifer *This post is part of a short series on happiness. You can find a complete list of all posts in the series here . For the previous post, click here . Find the next post here .
