It would be foolish of me to admit that I know exactly when I’m living in the moments I want to remember. No one does. We revel in our prime, but its not common to stop in those moments and go wow, I really am in the good times, aren’t I? I do find it peculiar that after eighteen years of a life, I have been told so many contradicting philosophies on how to handle exactly how I approach each minute of my life. First off, live in the moment. Take in every breath and focus on exactly who you are then and there. Secondly, appreciate the good moments while you’re in them.

Though these two ideals may seem like they connect, there's an obvious miscorrelation between the two. It’s important to live in the present, to not worry about everything that's to come or everything that you’ve yet to do. But there’s no way to live in the present if you constantly wonder whether that is going to be your greatest moment, and in that case, aren’t you focusing on the future?

Cherishing moments are for the beings of the future, the people who have already experienced, and are able to look back. Therefore, us as beings of the present are keen on reminiscing the moments we’ve enjoyed in the past. By trying to appreciate our good times, we are- at the same time- worrying about the future when we’re obsessing over the past. Funny enough, there is no way to really appreciate a moment while you're in it if the reasoning is to be able to look back on it.

I found myself in a position recently where I knew I’d be in one position for the last time. I focused my eyes, trying to take in every detail, every sense that was stimulated by that moment. How the air felt, how fast my heart was beating, what I smelt and thought in my brain. It was a good moment, and I knew it was the last one. But I was thinking about it.

Looking back, I wish I had taken the time to live there. To really, truly live there. I do not wish to have tried to cherish the moment, in fact, that is my biggest regret. If I had not focused on the fact that I was living a last, the memory in my mind would have probably been more clear, more focused on what was actually going on around me.

The more I thought about that moment, the more I realized I was obsessing too much over the past.

That being said, how do we truly ever live in the present if we’re always worried about cherishing the moments we’re living? How do we cherish the moments we’re living when we’re worried we won’t remember them in the future?

Just live. Just breathe. Take it all in, and stop worrying about what to cherish. Those things will grow, those moments will thrive when they’re happening. Ultimately, if they we’re a moment to remember, it’ll always be there anyway.