Moments...

The past couple of days I have been thinking a lot about moments.
One moment can change your life.
One minuscule second in the grand scheme of things, and just like that, every thing's different.
I think moments are powerful partly because that's all that it takes to get an idea, and ideas are where actions and course corrections really come from.
Moments are what we live for. When we're old and grey (God willing) and we're looking back at our lives, it's going to be moments that we see.
Moments when our minds were opened to new ideas/concepts and our whole lives shifted to accommodate that new viewpoint, sometimes changing the entire direction we were traveling. How we got to the point that we're at, will be because of enlightening moments. Whether this was from deep personal searching, or someone else teaching you something valuable, or making a mistake and learning a major lesson from it.
 Moments when you realize you love someone. This is a big one, because there are many different types and levels of love, but either way, whatever the circumstance, love is something that stays with you forever one way or another. Whether it's realizing that the love you felt for someone was unhealthy and getting out of the situation, or realizing that the ache you feel inside once someone leaves was because you loved them. Realizing when it's too late that you loved someone in return, and not being able to do anything about it. Coming to see just how much you love your family, even though it's all so complicated. Love is what this life is made for.
Moments where you risk it all and go with your gut. When you go against all reason and what everyone around you is telling you, and go with your heart. Big loss, big return. It goes one of two ways. There really is no way to feel more alive than to put it all on the line, that's what I always say.
Moments where you live out a piece of your dream, when you feel that real sense of accomplishment. Those times when you literally can feel yourself alive. Or moments where you can't see the light and don't know where you're supposed to go, you either make a move and shake things up and live, or you stay put and become stagnant waiting for the world to turn your way. Those are the moments that you either treasure or you regret.
I don't want to live with regret, and so far that's the way that I've lived my life. I have made my choices, both in how I act and how I react, and I have come to peace with them all. I've learned some lessons that I never thought I would. You know what though? I wouldn't change a minute of it. Every moment in my life is one that I treasure, the good the bad and the ugly. All of them. The moments that I've laughed, and the moments that I've cried. The moments that I never wanted to end and the moments that the gravity of the situation has sunk in and it couldn't pass quickly enough. When I recall those events, they let me know that I'm ALIVE. I haven't just been going through the motions of a life, but I've been an active participant in the creation of my life.
I love my moments. All of them.
And I love you guys for helping, on so many occasions, to create those moments with me :)
Aroha