How Do You Want to Meet This Moment?
Proud aunt alert.
My oldest nephew, K, graduated with honors from college this month. As I attended his graduation ceremony, I was blown away by the commencement speaker.
Executive Dean Dr. Albert Bimper is the kind of speaker I aspire to be. His words made me bristle, punched me in the gut, and moved me to tears… all in the span of about 15 minutes.
As is the hallmark of a truly great speaker, his words have stuck with me. The question he posed to the new graduates has continued to reverberate through my mind, so now I pose it to you:
How do you want to meet this moment?
The Moments We Have
Life is but a finite series of moments. Each and every one we encounter is unique. Yet, all too often, we lose sight of that.
We treat moments like people in a crowd. We let them blur together and pass us by, without being curious, engaged, or even noticing them.
Some moments, though, like this particular one in history, refuse to be ignored. They wave at us, flag us down, scream to get our attention.
Unfortunately, when we do take notice, I’m afraid that we don’t always rise to the occasion that the moment deserves.
So I ask you again, my friend, how do you want to meet this moment?
Seeing What’s Really In Front of You
When we’re not operating on autopilot, going through the motions, and letting life pass us by, we have a nasty habit of getting caught up in our thinking, mistaking our predictions, assumptions, and expectations for fact.
We react based on these imaginary scenarios as though they are solid intel, rather than realizing that we are futurecasting, jumping to conclusions, or otherwise getting ahead of ourselves and our actual experience.
When we operate from this place, we do the moment a disservice.
We show up in ways that, if we’re being honest, aren’t authentic, helpful, or pretty. We don’t put our best foot forward.
Do you want to meet this moment with fear? I don’t know what to expect from you. You could be bad. You could harm me. I'd better protect myself. Buckle down the hatches. Brace for impact.
Do you shy away from it? You’re new. I already have moments I’m comfortable with. I don’t want to know you. Go away.
Do you let the past influence your perception? I’ve known moments like you before. You’re all the same.
Do you meet the moment with hate in your heart? I don’t care what you are or why you’re like this. I wish bad things on you.
Do you put too much pressure on it? This is the most important moment ever, the only one that has or ever will matter. If you’re not right or perfect, I don’t know what I’ll do.
Or do you approach the moment as the unique individual it is?
Hello, Moment. I’m Ashley. Nice to meet you. What are you? Show me. Let me lean in and learn what you’re all about. What are you teaching me? Needing from me? Asking of me? Demanding from me?
Regardless of the moment itself—whether it’s a cesspool of bullshit, an amazing opportunity, a dull, unremarkable blip on the radar, or something else. Regardless of what each moment brings, you get to decide how you want to meet it. Personally, I choose to meet it with courage, curiosity, and compassion.
Courage to show up and meet the moment face-to-face, even if it’s big or scary or overwhelming.
Curiosity to move beyond preconceived notions, expectations, and predictions to see what’s really in front of me.
Compassion to set aside fear, anger, or hate, to step outside of judgments about whether this moment is good or bad, and to bypass urges to fling blame.
I choose compassion to open my heart, curiosity to open my eyes, and courage to open my arms to embrace THIS moment, in its entirety… and in mine.
Showing Up As Who You Want to Be
As we meet each moment with the respect and attention it deserves, we also get to decide how we show up.
Whatever the characteristics of the moment, whatever its demands, deficiencies, chaos, or injustice, whatever the moment promises, we get to decide how to meet it.
Difficult moments are a test.
They are a test of character. How you show up is about you, not the moment. Someone else’s bad behavior is not an excuse for ours.
Do you know who you are? Who you want to be? Have you taken the time to get in touch with your core values? Are you exemplifying them?
It’s easy to be those things in the face of easy moments. The true test is whether you can live those values when you meet the difficult ones.
A Gut Check
Fast forward beyond this moment. It has come and gone, as have innumerable others. Future You is content, open, fully engaged in life, and thriving. Future You looks back on this moment with pride and satisfaction, secure in the knowledge that they met this moment well. What did Present You do? How did you meet this moment?
“All that is important is this one moment in movement. Make the moment important, vital, and worth living. Do not let it slip away unnoticed and unused.”
Are you ready to live a bolder, happier life?
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