Living in the Moment

This week I began prepping for conservation season by spending two days in Bear Brook camping and doing Leave No Trace skills training. I also camped for two nights at Pawtuckaway State Park to do camp skills training and prepare for my first hitch next week. In the past six days I have had the opportunity to get to know my fellow crew members better and have begun spending the majority of my time outdoors. Each day I know that I am making memories and learning lessons that guide each new step in my life.

I've always been a supporter of living life to the fullest and being in the moment. We will never have yesterday back, no one knows what tomorrow will hold, we only ever have today, right now. While I do my best to be fully engaged in the moments as they're happening, it's usually hard to appreciate the moment without either stepping back and soaking it in or looking back on it once it's over. But maybe that's part of being in the moment; not having to think, just doing. This week I had various times when I was able to stop thinking about the past or the future and just be. I watched the full moon rise over the treetops in an astounding shade of orange while listening to frogs all around me. I swam across a clear yet chilly lake and lay air drying on warm rocks while listening to the wind create waves that lapped the shore. I sat on a huge boulder and watched the sun set over a lake while listening to loons. I lay in my tent and my hammock unable to sleep because I was staring up at the bright moon and stars in the clear sky. I was awed by the beauty of bright green leaves springing from buds on trees that have been bare all winter.

Now, more than ever, I want to take in every moment I can. I never want to leave words unsaid or put off doing something because I assume I can just do it another time. If there's one thing I've taken away from this week, it's that life is too short for us to wait to start living. The big lifelong goals are good, they give us something to work towards. But anytime I'm asked what I what to do with my life, I say that all I want is to wake up each day excited about what I'm doing. I think about what the future holds and I do my best to be prepared. But sometimes looking ahead two weeks, one week, even to tomorrow seems so far away. I can only live in the right now and when the tomorrow's become today's I will take each moment as it unfolds.

So take the time to sit and relax and just be. Stop waiting for someday, either make it today or accept that the "someday" is a long term goal. There are many moments that are worth focusing on now because they'll be over and gone before "someday" arrives. Appreciate the best things in life each moment you have them. Above all, appreciate the people in your life the moments shared with loved ones are the best moments of all.