Looking back v. Living in the moment

I've waited a few weeks to write this post as to avoid spoilers. We watched the wonderful, perfect farewell to The Office on Thursday, May 16. It made me think back to when I first started watching the show. I was a freshman in college, and the boys down the hall had downloaded the show and invited us all to come watch. We all thought Michael Scott was hilarious. We also watched the special before the season finale where they interviewed the cast. They mentioned in the special that their first season wasn't watched by many, but it was downloaded by many more and #1 on itunes. That's how I got into the Office, so... you're welcome, Office.

The themes in the farewell can touch anyone's heart. The characters thanked the documentary makers (within the show), for documenting their lives. They all felt thankful to see their lives unfold before them, and to relive the good times. Andy's character really touched me when he said this line through tears:

"I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you actually left them." ~Andy Bernard (Ed Helms).

When I look back, like I've done on this blog, or when I go through scrapbooks, or I have a school reunion, I always think that. I think about the things I would worry about in that time of my life, and how they'd be so trivial now. My heart always soars when I think of the good things, especially when I see things I'd forgotten about. For example, I was scouring through old blog posts and found this. It's the last blog post I wrote while working at The Des Moines Register. In it, I highlighted my top ten favorite moments as a MOJO there.

The intent of the message, however, is to remind yourself to live in the moment. This is something people think my generation can't do. Conan O'Brien said it best in his introductory remarks at the White House Correspondent's Dinner:

"Quick announcement, before we really get going, before we continue, if any of you are live tweeting this event, please use the #incapableoflivinginthemoment." ~Conan O'Brien

So. True. So instead of sappily going through the great oldies, I'm going to list a few things that make today, right now, the good old times. When I wrote down to think about this list, I instantly thought of the biggest loves in my life: My husband, our marriage, my friends, my family, my garden, my health, my house, my car, etc. So many things fill my heart. In true Niki-fashion, I'm going to try to be unique and list a few different things.

1. I can hop on my bike nearly anytime and ride just about anywhere. This shows not only that I have my health, but I have the time to go biking and have the beautiful bike trails in Iowa to accompany me. (Including the only 100-mile bike loop, set to open June 1).

2. I can buy a beautiful tree, flower, or vegatable and plant it. As a kid, I would always admire the beautiful flowers in the greenhouses, and longed to make a garden of my own so I could watch them grow. We just planted two trees in our yard this weekend, and it was quite lovely. I love having a yard as my canvas to work with.

I'm going to stop there, mainly because this is actually really hard to do. Perhaps that's because you don't know what you've got until it's gone.

Are you living in the moment? What makes today the golden days for you?

2013 goals update:
-I ordered my 8x10 pictures to submit to the fair. Next stop: submit my photos on the deadline date, June 15. Once they have been submitted, I will post pictures of the ones I chose here.
-I went to the golf range. Next stop: golf COURSE for a full round!