If there is one thing I have learned in the past few months here at Judson it is to live in the moment. Life is a precious and wonderful thing yet so many want to just rush through and never really live. I have never been a fast-paced sort of girl but I am guilty of wanting so many times for certain moments, big or small, to just pass me by. We have all been there at some point or another and it is hard to refrain from wishing those slow "dull" moments away. When I say, "live in the moment" I mean stop planning every second of your lives and simply live. Let the chips fall where they may. We, as a society, live so much in the future that we often forget to actually live in the present.

            I have a poster back home that reminds me first thing every morning, "God put YOU HERE NOW." I admit I am a perpetual planner. I like to know what is going to happen and I like to be organized and prepared. I had the next twelve years of my life planned when I graduated high school. I had been planning since I was four years old to be a doctor and the rest of my plan developed over the years. I decided to attend Judson as a pre-med student, study psychology, and graduate. I was then going to move to New York City for four years of graduate study at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. After that was Baltimore, Maryland for two years of standard residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Then I was headed for Miami, Florida the plastic surgery capitol of the world for a two year residency specializing in plastics. From there, I had decided to join the military as a reconstructive surgeon either right away or after a couple years of getting myself established as a reconstructive surgeon.

            Why do I tell you all of this? I had lofty ideals and passionate dreams but that was not what God wanted for me. Everyone knew I was going to be the best reconstructive surgeon ever known to man. I cannot tell you a whole lot about my high school days, mainly my senior year. I know that I love high school, I had great school friends, and I can tell you big moments but I cannot remember the day to day like I should. Why? I was not really living there. I was constantly living in the next moment and never soaking in the details of life. I was not seizing the day. I pray that YOU realize now that every second counts even if we feel it is the dullest second of our lives.

            Do not let life pass you by. Seize the day and live in the moment.