I close my eyes and I am replaying a dark moment. The physical pranks between a friend and myself had been escalating. In hindsight, my careless willingness to keep things going had helped lead to this moment. It was late, and while the celebration around me continued, I knew as I stood in soaking wet linen trousers and shirt with a cracked iPhone in my pocket that my night was done. Worse yet, it was not even my iPhone. In the days that followed, with news of a fried mother board and lost pictures that could never be replaced, the darkness deepened. Life was replaying a stark promise of old; “I’ll rub their faces in the dirt of their rebellion and make them face the music.” (Psalm 89.32)
Life many points of accountability in life, there is no happy ending to this story other than the fact that others as well as myself have tried to be accountable. The lingering feeling is one of loss and sadness. I could have, should have, anticipated the event and taken steps to avoid it. I did not and many are living with it.
The whispers of this event continue to push me in different ways.
Learn, always learn. In the beauty and the ugliness, in our best moments and ones we hope others did not notice or quickly forget, there are windows filled with learning. Each is born from our history and is there to help us reach our greatest aspirations and dreams.
Always be in the moment. To do this, one must be prepared, alert, and present. With practice, it can become natural. It can also include thinking and a focus on the intentional.
Be aware. There are two natural sides to this. First is an awareness of opportunities, especially ones unforeseen and not anticipated. Second is awareness to possible threats of all kinds. There is also a third dimension that I catch myself ignoring; an awareness of the importance of this moment. It is in the focus of what is most important that keeps our course true.
