We all need positive memories and experiences to fill our mental and emotional buckets. Those buckets deplete rather fast! I was thinking and wondering how can I keep a steady flow of positivity and goodness in my life? 

Today I am reminiscing over old pictures this morning (these are from the spring of 2012), wondering how it is that times flies by so fast. As I look over the pictures and gaze into the past, memories come flooding back. A sense of awe and wonder rush over me – how is it that a moment is here for just a blink of an eye? Why don’t they last longer? Perhaps its because moments only last a short time that we come to value them and their short lifespans.

But there’s something about a moment – a memory in the making. We need them, We are drawn to them. They make up who we are and are a part of us and our personal histories. They stir emotions and create feelings we associated with those memories. Pleasant memories mean pleasant feelings and its when life encounters bumps that we need to remember those happy little memories that we created. 
Moments make up our entire life. We live one moment at a time and wait continually for the next, wondering what it will bring. And as we live in each moment, we learn from the last one that has passed. Only because moments fly by do we try to hang onto them as eagerly as we do. We develop a desire to hold on and cherish those things that are gone in the blink of an eye.
One thing I have learned from moments moving by is to appreciate life as it is now, and not just sit wishing for something better. The opportunity to live the greatest moments of this life are often disguised as small and simple things.
What I have now might not be perfect, but it only lasts for a few short moments before that moment is gone and a new one appears, and that opportunity of the moment is gone forever. This is important when we’re talking about family life. Sure, things might not be picture perfect, but the moment is now, and precious moments wait for none except the opportunist who sits and waits to bask in their rays of goodness.
Parents know that they value of a moment is precious. It is not uncommon to find ourselves lost in one as we soak up a milestone in one of our children’s lives or as we sorrow over an opportunity to be more present that we missed. 

 But when we live more presently and become opportunists of the moment, ready to live more purposefully and be active in creating memories, even the smallest memories, we are creating a sweeter existence.

I have found that its those small moments that can create some of the greatest memories. It doesn’t need to constantly be a big moment to have a constant flow of memories. So long as we make an effort to open our eyes to those small wonderful moments that exist around us and create more of them, we are filling our buckets with a continuous flow of enriched living. We begin to live a bit more abundantly and taste of the sweetest goodness of this life.

It’s no surprise that photography is one of the best ways to capture small moments that we might not otherwise recognize as we lived in those moments. There’s something about taking a picture of an ordinary moment that turns it into a memory.

We all need good memories. It’s in our nature to need to hold onto the positives in life, especially to have a healthy handful of small daily memories ready at hand when the bumps in life come.

I thought it might be neat to try to take a photo a day of a small moment and see how many ordinary things we do that I can turn into memories. I might not make the goal of a picture every day, but if I can get a couple good ones per week, I think that will suffice.

So here’s to making more small, abundantly available memories. #FillingMyBucket