I used to follow this poet on Instagram named Samuel Decker Thompson.
But then I think he went through a dark time, and his posts started to confuse me, so I haven’t been following him as much as I used to. (Sorry, Samuel… ) However, the first time I read one of his quotes, I noticed that this guy has a real way with words. Even the description of himself I read on his profile made me laugh the first time I read it:
“Samuel Decker Thompson: poetry, philosophy, quotes, and trite advice disseminated by some douchebag who is no better than you.”
When I originally discovered Samuel, his posts would make me think, and, he could sum up some pretty profound realities about life and love in a pithy way. I admire how some people just know how to turn the perfect phrase. But the favorite quote I’ve ever read of his is this one:
“We are all just a car crash, a diagnosis, an unexpected phone call, a newfound love, or a broken heart away from becoming a completely different person. How beautifully fragile are we that so many things can take but a moment to alter who we are forever?”
What could anyone possibly add to that quote to make it better? Absolutely nothing. It’s completely perfect because it is completely true. And when looking back on my life through this perspective, I see how many single moments in time have permanently changed me:
The moment after my mom slipped away from me.
The last time I told my dad I loved him.
The seconds it took to promise Lou I’d be here, “for richer or poorer; in sickness and in health; and, till death do us part.”
When my sister gave birth to her children.
The moment I accepted that all of our money was gone…
In the minute before all of these things happened, my life was one way…and without any ability to comprehend the weight of the next minute to come, my world was forever different.
But what I’m seeing the most when I look back on my life from my current point of view is that it’s not just the big moments that changed me. It’s the little decisions I’ve made that have layered the path of my life with specific highs and lows that have changed everything about me, too.
Things in my life have honestly changed when I’ve said yes to something instead of saying no… Or when I’ve said hello to someone for the very first time and flippantly said goodbye to someone else, not realizing that our paths would never cross again. Every moment counts. And, I can’t retrieve or undo any moment that has already passed.
But, the wise girl in me understands that if I can gracefully accept the unexpected events in my life, and if I can count the cost of the decisions I make in the moments I have right now, I will start to fully understand the priceless value of each event from my past and present, and I can look forward to my future decisions with courage.
