Learn To Love These Small, Beautiful Moments—They’ll Be Gone Before You Know It

It was the last day of July and I was sitting around a bonfire with a few of my best friends. The night was clear, the air was warm, and the sweet aroma of marshmallows and graham crackers filled the midnight sky as we kicked back and enjoyed a beautiful warm fire, in the heart of perhaps one of the most unusual summers that one could ever imagine.

It was there that I felt fully present, fully alive, and fully awake as I sat comfortably in the company of a few heartfelt souls that were warmer than the crackling fire nestling in front of us that night.

Sometimes, the best things in life are the simplest things. And to me, there is no better feeling in this world than the awareness of being around those that you truly love.

In the midst of life, we often forget what it means to be fully alive. Or more profoundly, what ultimately matters. We forget in our conquest for accomplishment, that life was never about success or climbing the corporate ladder. We forget in our longing for a better future that the present moment is the most amazing time that we can ever ask for, even if we don’t quite see it at the time. Because one day, you may look back on today and realize that it was the best time of your life. But also, that it goes by so fast as though you blinked your eye for a moment and life went along quickly with it.

For much of my life, I’ve always been in a rush to get somewhere. Always in a hurry to achieve “this” or “that”, wishing and hoping that it will all finally make me feel whole and complete. But meanwhile, I was missing out on everything that was happening right in front of me. I was missing out on the beauty and elegance of a warm glimmering fire with great friends, a clear and starry summer night, and time well spent with loved ones that means more to me than anything else.

You see, so many of us live such a fast-paced life where we miss all of the enjoyment in the small yet profound things in life. The little laughs you have with your friends. The evening walks you take outside with your dog. The late nights up awake writing on a Friday night. We take these things all for granted, when in reality, these are the very things that we truly live for. The very things that make us whole aren’t tangible or achievable, but rather, intangible and beautiful in and of themselves.

You see, there is no end goal to happiness. There is just our perspective on life and how we see things.

And once we recognize and appreciate all of the small yet amazing things in our life that we so often look past, we can realize how truly lucky we are to be alive today. At the end of the day, what matters most is not how long we lived, but rather, how we spent each day living. Were you surrounded by the people that you love? Were you doing the things that you were passionate about? The things that made you feel alive?

These are the questions we need to ask ourselves. These are the moments we need to cherish. And most of all, these are the days that you are always going to remember when you look back and think about the best times of your life.

So here’s to the small things in life, and here’s to enjoying everything we often take for granted—the best things in life.