There has been this scene that has been playing over and over in my head and I have been so torn about writing about it. It was something that I saw tonight that really disturbed me. I thought that maybe I could look past it, but I cant stop thinking about it.
Tonight I went bowling for the first time in a long time. It was good times shared with friends. On the lane next to us was a father and daughter who were bowling together. It was really nice to see that they were able to share quality time together doing something that they both enjoyed. The girl was actually a pretty good bowler.
There was one shot that she took that almost looked like she wasnt going to pick up the spare, but at the last moment a pin ricocheted and hit the last pin standing. I could see the joy that she had in her body language. She turned around with the biggest grin on her face and her eyes shot straight towards her dad. I could tell that she wanted to see the look of amazement from her fathers eyes as that would be a sign of how proud he was of her. Instead, as she turned around with the big smile on her face she saw her dad looking down at his iPhone. Her demeanor went from joy to sadness.
Now dont get me wrong, that was the only occasion. The rest of the night they were a close and loving family.
The reason I tell this story is because it really bothered me. I have to ask myself if I am present in the moments that I am in. Where do we center our lives? Is it around the moment that we are in or is it around trying to take ourselves out of that moment?
When I am in my car, am I lost in my cool GPS or iPod dock? When I am at a restaurant with friends, am I lost in a text conversation? When I am on my phone, am I lost in trying to find something on tv? When I am watching a movie, am I lost in trying to Twitter about it?
I know that there are many precious moments that I miss in my life because of those distractions and I know that there are other peoples moments that I miss because of the same reason.
Although we may be able to look back on pictures and videos, it will never feel the same as when it happened. We only experience each moment in time once and that the gift of the present.
