Happiness in the Moment

photo by Pao Sanchez/LuluLemon

Share your life with others. You will have a joyful life.
― Lailah Gifty Akita

Before, it was a word only heard in science fiction movies when the world was taken over by walking zombies or black-eyed aliens looking to conquer earth. Now, it has become a staple in every person’s vocabulary; a word that first started as a joke, but now has hit everyone harder than expected.
 
Quarantined.

I personally think it is amazing how there is a force that always looks to balance the energy and focus of the world one way or another. In a world that was so fast paced, self-centered, and ironically disconnected, we are now forced to slow down, reconnect, and pay attention to what is really happening around us.
 
The ‘phenomenon’ of living-in-the-moment has now become a necessity that we have been forced to focus on, with no other option to choose.
 
However, we are all in this together. A phrase so cliché and simple, that again, forced to sit down and examine its true meaning.
 
Sharing experiences with another person deepens our enjoyment of the moment. Experiences are amplified, positively or even negatively, when done together in the presence of another soul. You could say that bonding is currently happening, whether slowly or aggressively, in the face of a shared trauma.
 
I understand that the definition of quarantine opposes the statement just made, the idea of bonding and sharing experiences, but I can bet that majority of the world understands completely how the idea of quarantine has, in turn, caused more of a connection than ever before.
 
I’ve seen happy hour socials done through Zoom platforms; happy hour circles formed outside houses. Companies have made it a priority to serve people instead of building numbers. Complete business models have adapted and possibly innovated new ways for how business is to be done. People are talking to each other, not to create business, but to connect and get to know one another.
 
Change, that may have possibly been needed, has started to take place.
 
Throughout my professional career as an athlete, I’ve traveled to some incredible places, locations that others put on vision-boards or dream vacations, locations that you can’t describe through words, but experiences. Yes, I am grateful for those experiences, but if you ask me about my happiness, I wouldn’t list those places as my top favorite moments, mainly because they were experienced alone, without someone I could share with.
 
I would list one of my favorite experiences during a time I went through chemotherapy. During a period of uncertainty, fear, and loneliness, I met a 6-year old girl who held my hand during the entire experience. We watched movies during our sessions, ate doughnuts from the staff. We shared moments together that were ours, and forever ours. Unfortunately, she didn’t make it another year, but the memories of her will never be forgotten.
 
Experiencing moments together is a powerful tool for shaping our happiness.
 
I’ve always believed that had I not shared those moments with her, those small moments of laughter, the big moments of pain, the small moments of watching tv, I am not sure I would have made it this far. The world is going through a time of craziness, but when has the world been so connected in a battle for humanity…
 
Nobody knows what will happen next, or when anything will happen. Literally nobody. But what we do know is that we are here in this moment together. We can focus on the negatives and the things we cannot control, or we can take a breath and discover who we are. How are you going to make use of this time to ‘breathe’... better yet, how will you receive this moment of clarity...