Big Moments, Little Moments

©iStockphoto.com/Icer0ck

When I was a child, there was this cartoon, where, at the beginning of the episode, the forces of evil removed the colors from the town, and then the forces of good would work hard to return them. The episode then ended with a dramatic return of color to the screen and everybody lives happily ever after until the next episode. Thinking about it makes me wonder if such ideas instilled in us the belief that the good things happen in spikes; major moments years apart. Sometimes these big moments advance our lives tremendously but after the jump, the curve levels off (best case scenario) or rapidly decline (worse case scenario).

We think, if only we get that job, or married that person, or pass that exam, then everything will be okay. Or take the pink shades some people tend to wear when they fall in love, and they start humming to themselves, shouting to everybody, “Isn’t it a beautiful morning?”

Until they start fighting. Or they break up.

And the colors drain out of the screen.

There is a quote that says, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” It seems to tell us not to let our lives be defined by tiny 15 minute moments years apart. As I was reading one of my old diaries, I realized that during that particular time, there weren’t many ‘big moments’ that would define achievement. The ‘big moments’ I would count down to had something to do with holidays and vacations. And even those filled me with anxiety more than happiness. But on a day-to-day basis, there wasn’t anything I would look forward to. I wasn’t focusing on the tiny everyday moments so the week was tiring, the weekend more so, and the days kept on melding into each other until a year would pass and I would be like…WHAT?!

And I find myself thinking, why is that? Could it be that we are programmed to believe that for something to be a ‘big thing’ that we make a big fuss about should be a glamorous and spectacular moment? Vacations, family trips, graduations, weddings….Are these the only moments that return colors to the screen? What about all the tiny moments in between? Or are those meant to stay in black and white?

Nowadays, I have learned to focus more on the journey instead. For instance I relish in the simple process of getting new ideas. Last week during a math class, my friend linked Fourier with an aspect in human nature and told me “You can blog about it.” I appreciated that moment just because it gave me something to think about for a coming blog maybe. Then a couple of days later another friend brought me a couple of gifts from where she spent her Eid holiday, and I thought of how blessed I am to have these tiny moments to cherish.

So my goal for this post is to make you think about two things:

1) Find a way to appreciate the small moments – the in-between moments – and if you see that you are really unhappy about them, maybe it’s an indication that something needs to change in your life.

2) Take up new challenges and understand that new challenges need not be done in spikes where you wait for the right weather condition or the right company, but instead it could be a continuous process and see where you go.

I would end with a quote from a businessman whose talk I attended once. He was asked, “Why don’t you write a book about your life?”

He said, “Because I’m not done achieving.”

Btw my French friend told me the sentence in the pic has a grammar mistake but I’m too lazy to correct it. Faits should be Faite.

Last but not least, leave a comment on my previous post & get a chance to win 25 USD (around 3 Kindle books). For more details, check out “Four years and 413 posts later…click to win a prize”.