Ever have those moments in your life where you feel that those events occurred in your life for a reason? Whether it's something you need to hear, see, or experience, it comes in your life at the perfect moment. A couple of days ago, that happened to me. I had just finished taking my grandmother to the cemetery, just as we did every other Memorial Day weekend. This has always been one of my favorite moments spent with my grandma. We talk. We laugh. We create darling bouquets of many vibrant colors, shapes, and sizes.

And of course, we spend time together reflecting on the loved ones I wished I had known, the ones she misses dearly. As a part of our tradition, we always stop to get milkshakes afterward at the local ice cream shop. I ordered my usual peanut butter shake and her usual chocolate shake which she claims is the flavor that is “not as sweet as the others.” (Not so sure that’s how nutrition works but I just go with it.) As I stood there and waited, my once content mind at the cemetery turned to a whirlwind of thoughts. It raced with all of the duties I had to take care of once I returned home and with the usual thoughts I had to cope with each day:

"I have to make sure I go to the gym when I get home, I have to finish my homework for the next day I class, oh and I have to see if any of my friends are getting together tonight because I haven’t been out of the house in a few days. But what will I wear? I don’t know if they will want to be casual or cute. I don’t feel good enough about myself to go out tonight. I would rather just stay at home with my parents because that’s easier."

I was completely oblivious to my surroundings, engaged only in my thoughts. Then all of the sudden an older woman with course white hair approached me. One of the most genuine voices I had ever heard said to me, “Honey, you are one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen. Do not let anyone tell you differently.” Wow. Had she been reading my mind? I can honestly say I was floored in this moment. I responded with a warm thank you, and she looked at me with a warmer smile and told me to have a great evening.

Sometimes I find myself trying so incredibly hard each day to be accepted in any shape or form. Whether it means spending countless hours in the gym sweating away my worries of looking good in a swimsuit this summer or spending all of my time focusing on the needs of others instead of my own. I can even find myself worrying about past mistakes and ones I feel may be made in the future.

But for what? What or whom am I actually trying to please? Why do all of these frivolous thoughts matter? If you actually take the time to sit down and think about this, a uniform answer to those questions is almost impossible to find. Though we all have our reasons for busy minds and our own purposes to live our life, living in the moment is so incredibly important. I have quickly learned that those moments we take for granted can slip away making us wish we had enjoyed them more.

You don’t have to have some miraculous epiphany in an ice cream line like I did. It may happen to you through a genuine smile or a moment of contentment. Or maybe you could even create one for someone else as that kind soul did for me. But eventually, we are taken back by these moments and are encouraged to reevaluate ourselves and our choices. What is truly important to us? By definition, a moment is a brief time period.

See that? It says BRIEF. Turn those littlest moments into memories and let the best ones come to you. But who knows, maybe you might need to go get ice cream to capture yours too.