The Moment

The moment.

Isn’t life made up of moments? Some worth re-living over and over, some causing deep pain, hurt and resentment and some passing by insignificant, unnoticed, yet silently contributing to the span of your life?

Sometimes it takes just a moment to let a mindless thought slip out. You said it in anger; you were irritated when you said it and you did not mean it at all. Yet, you hurt deeply the person to whom you uttered these words. It takes only a moment to apologize, but it can take a lifetime to forget. Sometimes, a lifetime is not enough.

Sometimes, it takes just a moment to say something nice. You might have said it spontaneously. You might have meant it at that moment, but forgotten later. But the recipient of those words will remember it for a long long time. Kindness is usually not forgotten, perhaps because it seems to be rare in the times we live in.

I have had my moments of hurt, and my moments of joy. The latter still bring mad laughter when I remember, and are priceless moments. The former, I am just not able to forget. I am able to forgive the people who hurt me, but I just cannot forget. Many find it strange, as they feel forgiveness and forgetting are inter-linked. I don’t agree. When you forgive, it means you no longer bear grudges—but deep down you still remember. I think it is a bit like childbirth. Years later, you forget the pain but you are aware how painful it had been.

A Calendar which hangs on my bedroom wall says “Live the moment.”