The Moment

I’m headed to Yellowstone National Park tomorrow for some hiking with my oldest son. We’ve both never been there before so experiencing it for the first time together should be a blast. Exploring, talking, laughing, evading wild bison, and just getting to know each other better (Come on. How many of you really know your kids?). What a great moment.

Just like all the great moments I’ve had. The wedding! The birth of the kids! The promotion! Graduation! First kiss! First house! First car! First…………. you fill in the blank.

But now I’m staring at all of the piles of stuff I plan to bring, and I find my mind wandering and pushing me to pick “The Moment”. You know, the one most impactful moment of my life.

Not that easy. I’m flip-flopping between a couple of those I mentioned. But there is this one other that keeps popping up. One that I know is there, but I hardly talk about. One that only a small handful of my closest friends and family know. One that is…… “The Moment”.

Have you ever thought about this? Do me a favor. Get to a quiet space, with no one around, with no distractions (you are allowed a drink of choice).

Stop thinking!! What’s that first thing that came to mind? That first thing is your moment. You know it is and don’t try to convince yourself otherwise.

I believe we all have a moment that only we (and maybe a select few others) know. A moment that has shaped who we are. That Is embedded deep in our souls. A moment that we (unfortunately) might hesitate to share with others.

I hope your moment is a great one. The moment you realized that all of your hard work has paid off. The moment you knew you met the love of your life. The moment you heard “Congratulations, you are getting promoted”.

But, for some of you, your moment might be way different. The moment the phone rang with awful news. The moment you realized the love of your life was no more. The moment you heard “Sorry, but we have to let you go”.

And maybe your moment lies somewhere in between (a good moment in the midst of a really shitty time).

How does your moment make you feel? Thankful? Energized? Excited? Bitter? Angry? Confused? Whichever emotion you might feel, I certainly hope you are owning your moment as a defining part of your life.

Realize that all of these moments, these very brief periods of time, good or bad, share one very important thing in common. They are all in the past. They’re over. Done. But aside from the memory, what lives on is how you responded to your moment. This is incredibly important.

You got that promotion……. Did you thank others who supported you? Did you teach others what led to your success so that they might succeed too? Or did you just bask in the glory and claim your throne as king of all humanity?

You got fired……. Did you respond with grit and initiative to never quit on yourself and find a new role? Or did you retreat, regress, and allow self-pity to overtake you?

Your response to your moment is arguably more important to your story than the actual moment is. If you do not like how you have responded, even if your moment happened a very long time ago, there is always time to re-respond. It’s up to you.

Now one other question for you. If this moment is so important to who you are and the life you lead, have you shared with anyone how important that moment is? If you have, what was their reaction? If you haven’t, why not?

It’s very personal, I get it. And why should you share yours when I still haven’t shared mine. That’s a pretty big ask. Not sure I want to share it.

At least not yet.

At least not here.

Chapter One………