GRATEFUL FOR “THE MOMENTS”

SARAH NWAFOR

“What could Sarah be most grateful for?” Health? Family? Food? Salvation? Sleep? Friends? Poetry? The Holy Spirit? Sleep again? More food? Wouldn’t that be an overwhelming list to complete?

Even if I were to ponder for months non-stop, I’m afraid I would be unable to recall everything I should be thankful for. You see, I may pen down what my human memory deems worthy of remembering, but what about the things that occurred beyond my consciousness? This is why I have chosen to settle for the seemingly insignificant. I, Nwafor Sarah Isioma, am grateful for “the moments.” Nothing could encompass everything that should appear on my gratitude list better than the word “moment.”

I believe you, my dear readers, are also grateful for “the moments.” If you weren’t, then you wouldn’t pause your movie when you have to use the restroom; you wouldn’t rewind a song just because you were distracted by your thoughts and couldn’t appreciate the lyrics; you wouldn’t take pictures or create videos of events that hold so much meaning for you; there would be no throwback Thursdays; memorials, birthdays, and holidays would be overlooked entirely; our memory itself would be irrelevant.

A moment is a fragment of time, yet in its entirety, it is time itself. Life is an atomic build-up of moments, and only the individual experiencing it can define what constitutes a moment. Sadly, people fail to discern time as moments.

I’ve learned to take pauses to better appreciate moments in my life, whether good or bad. When I sit with my family, sharing food and uncontrollable laughter, I take a mental note to savour the moment. What a privilege to not only laugh but to do so in the company of those I hold dear to my heart! What a moment!

When my coursemates in school surround me, learning and sharing inside jokes, I can’t help but think to myself, “This is a moment, a moment that will become a memory.” When I’m enjoying good food, I’m reminded of the moments when there were none, and it makes me eat with more appreciation.

What about those times I cried because I felt downtrodden? Nothing got me back in high spirits more than realizing that it was just a moment—a moment that was bound to pass. That way, I cried to my heart’s content so I could move on to the next moment, whatever it was.

Saying that I am grateful for a moment means that I am inherently thankful for everything that had to happen for that moment to be possible, even if I wasn’t aware of it. So If I’m grateful for laughter with my family, then I’m grateful for my parents who decided to get married; I’m grateful to God who blessed the union with children; I’m grateful for the heartbreaks and disappointments they had to endure before God finally brought them together.

I could go on and say I’m grateful for the pastor who wedded them; I’m grateful for the caterer who cooked at their wedding; I’m grateful for their parents who gave birth to them; I’m grateful for the teachers who taught them in school; and so on. Do you see how far back my gratitude for just one moment can reach?

Hence, I’m eternally thankful to God that I get to experience my life in moments. I’m grateful for these small doses of time that embody my life on earth. Whatever these moments were, painful or blissful, I choose to be thankful because they all led to the moment I am currently experiencing. I must not fail to say thank you to God Almighty for all the moments I am yet to experience; I heartily look forward to them.

©Nwafor Sarah Isioma