A Moment
When we say “just a moment” do we ever stop to think just what a moment really is?
I don’t think so. I think most of us say “just a moment” without thinking. We don’t stop to consider how profound a moment can be. Does a moment reflect a certain amount of time? Does a moment in time mean something different to each one of us?
Is a moment a measurement of time – or is it something else?
Can a moment be measured as time at all? Or are moments more like fragile milestones by which we remember the days of our lives?
We all know how our lives can change in just a moment. A child is born in a moment and one day we will all die in a moment. Great ideas flash in the minds of ordinary people in a moment, yet those ideas born in just a moment can change the world forever.
A dictator seizes power, enslaves an entire civilization, and changes millions of lives in just a moment. We can go from freedom to slavery in just a moment.
A soldier battling bravely for his country one moment and the next moment is killed. That one moment in time changes the lives of so many others, his family, friends, and loved ones. But it all happened in just a moment.
We fall in love, make life-changing decisions, make mistakes, get ideas, conceive a child, give birth, and even die, and we can do each in just a moment.
A moment of thoughtlessness can turn a friend away forever. A moment of bad judgment can ruin our lives – as well as the lives of all those who love us.
A moment of anger can turn a loving person into a person filled with rage and hate.
Bad news arriving from far away can turn our laughter into tears in just a moment.
We say “just a moment” without thinking or realizing just how important moments can be. We often trivialize moments. But in the course of our lives, moments make all the difference.
The moments that take our breath away may never be as important as the moments that do not. Often it is the moments we have not planned, the ones that just happen without planning, that we remember most – – that first kiss, that first soft, spring morning after a long harsh winter, the sound of a robin singing, the smell of the air after a summer thunderstorm, the smile of a child – all just everyday moments in the days our lives, but they may well be the moments we will come to treasure most.
Then there are life-changing moments like the birth of a child, a child’s first step, a child’s first word, or the last sighing breaths of a loved one who is dying. All of these are just moments but they are moments that make up our lives.
And, someday all of our lives will end in just a moment.
In just a moment we can make or break a lifetime, hurt a friend, think a thought that sparks an idea that changes the world or ends a life. So, the next time you say “just a moment” remember how important a moment can be.
This moment or the next just might be the most critical moment of your life.