The Next Moment can redefine us.

Or go obliviously unnoticed. 

It’s all up to us.

So here we stand on the edge of a new moment. Moments, if defined as seconds, happen 86,400 times per day. We move from one moment to the next almost seamlessly, as one moment morphs into the next, and then the next. The busy pace of life today causes us to misplace entire days, let alone notice a single individual moment.

Transitioning between the moments is done without much thought or reflection. As we blindly enter the Next Moment, we bring with us the contents of the previous moment, which contained the contents of the moment prior to that one. Each moment is a clean canvas that is colored by what it is we decide to bring into it. That is, if we even bother to make a decision in the first place. If you don’t even notice the moment there is no need to think about what to bring into it.

FREEDOM The great thing about entering the Next Moment is that there are no rules. No list of regulations or restrictions. We are free to bring anything and everything with us. Sometimes the stuff we bring inspires us and propels us forward. Sometimes the stuff we bring just weighs us down, keeping our wheels spinning in the mud that surrounds us from time to time.

So, what have you been taking with you into your next moments?

Attitudes, expectations, and perceptions will all shape the quality of the Next Moment, and by extension, the quality of our lives. When was the last time you took an inventory of your own attitudes, expectations, and perceptions? The good news is that we are the only ones that determine our attitudes, expectations, and perceptions. The world and those in it will surely attempt to shape us, but we alone will always be the ones ultimately responsible for ourselves.

Before you enter the Next Moment, press the pause button on your life. Just stop for a quick minute and ask yourself one question:

If the Next Moment were to be perfect, what exactly would that Next Moment look and feel like?

Whatever it is you’d like to find in the Next Moment, are your attitudes, expectations, and perceptions in line with what it is you hope the Next Moment will be?

CROSSING THE THRESHOLD As you prepare to step into the Next Moment, will you weigh yourself down with a backpack full of uncertainty, fear, weakness, bitterness, jealousy, disappointment, or desperation? Or will you walk into the gift of the Next Moment empowered by hope, abundance, possibility, optimism and confidence?

The Next Moment really doesn’t care either way. It’s job is to show up. Our job is to decide what we’ll bring with us as we cross the threshold into the Next Moment. It’s a decision that can keep us content in our discontent, or can set us free to become all that we were created to become.  It’s all up to us.

Each day outside influences are given endless opportunities to mold and shape our attitudes, expectations, and perceptions. The media reminds us on a constant basis of all that is “wrong” with the world. The societal pressures to be the “right” weight, date the “right” people, drive the “right” car, drink the “right” beer, worship in the “right” church, and the inevitable comparisons we make between who we are and who we are “supposed” to be. And then there are the opinions of others and the acceptance or rejection that comes along with it, especially when those opinions come from those who claim to love us the most. 

POSSIBILITY & PROMISE But the Next Moment is a blank slate. The Next Moment is a starting line. The Next Moment is the first note in the unfinished symphony of your life. We can chose to let the external influences hijack the Next Moment, or we can chose to be empowered with the possibility and promise that reside within us and within every Next Moment.

So, what will you bring into the Next Moment?

Living Half Full is about making the most of all the next moments of your life, starting with this moment, right here, right now. It is deciding that life is about opportunity and growth. It’s about rediscovering and reconnecting with the greatness that lies within all of us. It’s about dumping any negative emotional baggage onto the bed and repacking your suitcase with exactly what you’ll need to maximize the Next Moment…and the rest of your life.

It’s a great day to be you!