Chapter 295

The question life asks us, and in answering which we can realize the meaning of the present moment, does not only change from hour to hour but also changes from person to person: the question is entirely different in each moment for every individual. Maria Popova

The meaning of the present moment. The Now. Today is all any of us have and what it means for each of us, is powerfully individualistic. And powerfully temporary. That is the very definition of this moment isn’t it? This can be deeply philosophical material for someone to carry around in their heads, and I doubt that most of us can manage the profound nature of our moments. I think I am doing good to occasionally to stop and smell the roses, much less contemplate the meaning of the present moment.

This does not make me any less thankful for the moments I have, but I confess that I am usually too busy living them to wrestle with their cosmic meaning while having them. But I do think most of us look back and think about our moments and have “ah ha” epiphanies about which one’s were really important. This in turns creates a little sadness in us, as we grapple with the importance of what we experienced, and that we did not value it or treasure it in that moment in a manner worth of its importance. But honestly we couldn’t have understood in that moment how important that moment was, because we were too busy living it!

And I think that is the question that life asks us. - are you living it? Or just thinking about it?