“…It's when you know you're licked before you begin
anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you
do."
~from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1926-2016)
A while back I was listening to a few albums from the
70s. Some particular groups had a string of successful hits and nailing down
one particular best album from them is hard to do. Those supergroups, it
seemed, never produced a bad record. Then you have your one-hit wonders. I try
to avoid the albums with those particular songs, knowing that it might be the
highlight of an otherwise terrible musical career. You also find groups that
produced a number of mediocre records, then burst into superstardom with a
record that literally broke the charts. After that record, they were never able
to replicate that level of stardom again.
When I am in the record stores, I look for those albums because they
represent the group in their heyday; at the top of their game.
When we are at the end of our lives and we look back and
reflect on our greatest moment, will we be able to pin it down to one major
event? I used to believe that we all have one star moment, fifteen minutes of
fame, moment in the sun, or time on top of the world. But is it that easy to
pin down? Is it even useful or necessary to try and pin it down? To me it is
like catching the elusive greased pig that we think we have a hold of, but slips
easily through our fingers. Just when we think we have that defining moment
defined, it is replaced with an ever better one.
In the case of the thrill seeker, it is the search for Mt.
Everest. What happens when Everest is conquered? There are no more taller
mountains to climb. Maybe it is on to the next challenge. Check that one off
your bucket list. Then again, many die
trying to climb Everest. Then your defining moment becomes a moment of shame.
You are a frozen memory on a barren rock with an epitaph of “almost made it.”
Sadly, sometimes our defining moment is one of lost opportunities, unmet goals,
and dashed dreams. So should we never chase the mountaintops? That is not
necessarily what I am saying. The problem is that there is always another one
to climb. Seeking an ever-higher goal may be as fruitless as chasing the wind. A
Christian may claim their salvation experience as the defining moment in their
lives. But after the fire insurance is purchased, are they making any kind of
difference in the world around them? Or are they standing on the promises of
the past and putting all their stock in that one moment in time.
I am not a thrill seeker, but I have to admit that I look
for those mountaintops more than I should. When I received my doctorate, I
thought I had reached the pinnacle. But then an offer of a tenure-track position
replaced that goal with a higher mountain. There are other things in my life
that, at the time, seemed like a defining moment, but then I realized that I
have many more moments to create. I cried when my son was born, but every day he
wins a battle over depression and anxiety and moves closer toward his degree, I
wonder how many more defining moments I will trace over the course of his
journey. I remember my daughter as the apple of my eye, wearing her pig tails
and spinning around trees after school, with her big round glasses and her
contagious laugh. But now that she is through with college and starting a new
career, I wait for the moments that will define her future, and change mine for
the better, as I watch her grow and develop as an adult.
I still seek to finish my tenure process. I hope to write
a book someday. To travel overseas. To win awards for my second career. But
since our time on earth is short and we never know if we will have the luxury
of looking back, I chose to make each day a defining moment. I chose to define
my life by seeking to live it to the fullest. Because it is how we live the
moments of everyday existence that define us.
So keep chasing those dreams. Keep fulfilling promises to
yourself and to those you love. Make a name for yourself. Rest assured that you
have written your life story on the moments of the past, but know that an
abundance of defining moments are always around the next corner.
