Joan Hoff AVON

I thought this was so cute

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For the past several weeks I've been taking a technology break. I'd wake up in the mornings, sit outside with my coffee listening to the day come to life, savoring the moment. Such beauty. I want to take it all in. The morning smells infusing the air, the wind chimes tinkling in the breeze, how delicious hot coffee seems to taste when I drink it outside in nature, the feel of the wind on my face. I want to relish every moment for as long as I can.

What comes up for me, as I try desperately to capture this experience with all my senses, is how many moments in life I’ve let slip away without experiencing them so richly. I’m so busy running from one thing to the next that I forget how important it is to take it all in.

When my kiddo was little, we read the "Cam Jansen Mystery series." Cam is a girl-genius who loves to solve mysteries. With her photographic memory, she can walk into any situation and remember every single detail. When she wants to remember something for later, she simply looks around and says, “Click!” and it’s captured forever.

I remember a few summers ago, we were out canoeing when, from behind me in the boat I hear my son Jeremy say, “Click!” We both laughed at our inside joke that my husband didn’t understand. “Isn’t this awesome, Mom?! I want to remember it forever!” It was awesome indeed.

I wish we all could do that. How cool would that be?! To capture the moments you wanted to remember forever just by saying, “Click!”

But maybe it is that simple. Maybe the act of recognizing that there are moments to be captured is the key.

I work with so many people who hunger for that sense of satisfaction and happiness at work and in life. We're all working so hard and it's easy to forget why we're doing what we're doing in the first place. What’s it all about?

Maybe “what it’s all about” isn’t just in hitting the deadlines, or going from one meeting to the next, or landing the “big one” – whatever that may be. Maybe the satisfaction we seek is to be found in all the moments in between? Maybe it's found in the beautiful live oak trees that shade us from the hot summer's heat. In the look of gratitude in someone’s eyes when we tell them we believe in them. In the smell of fresh ground coffee as we wait in line at Starbucks. In the energy we create in a team meeting when we inspire people to bring their best. In the cacophony of sounds that make up the music of the city, or the birds singing in the morning, or the crickets at night. Maybe it's found in tucking our child in to bed or in saying, "I love you" with intention rather than habit. So many moments to be captured that we let slip by.

Yes, it’s easy to find the moments when you step away. When life slows down. But my sincere hope is that my time away has given me the chance to recognize all I have to be grateful for. There is satisfaction and happiness all around – it just needs to be captured.

“Click!”