Stop. Just for a second. Don’t think about anything you have to do next. Take a moment to realize and be present, fully, in this moment. Look around you and admire it. Check in with each of your senses and note what they are feeling. Realize that it is the only time that really exists. Every moment that passes is gone. Every one to come has yet to occur. That coming moment (and the one after it and the one after that) are not guaranteed. That is what makes this one so special. This is why we should recognize and appreciate it’s uniqueness.

But here’s the paradox. Each one of the moments before was equally unique. And we were led to it by the moment before that one. This moment is a consequence of the choices we made in all of the last. And no matter how sure you were those choices would lead you here, they just as easily could have led you to a sudden, unexpected, death.

The fact is that from the moment your warm feet hit the cold floor this morning you have ventured into a vast unknown. Anything could have happened. Yet you ventured forth anyway. You took that next step. And every step was a new opportunity to set your path. Every breath a subconscious decision to keep breathing. Every action a choice to do what you have always done or make a change. And, in reality, you had no real knowledge or control of any of it.

So, let’s take some time to celebrate that. Living life takes strength and courage and fearlessness and boldness to face such choices. Perhaps dozens big and small, each moment. Some smart, some crazy, some daring, some predictable. Yet none, do we know for certain, will lead to another. We have only hope that it will, so we choose to keep on despite that fact.

This moment is the only one we have to make the choices that guide the next, when and if it comes. In this moment we can decide to change our life. Or, we can decide to keep it just as it is. But we get to choose. In this moment, and only this moment, we get to choose our own adventure.

Writing is how I choose to contribute to life’s great adventure. If these words help you make the next best choice, please let me know by contributing here.