Let’s admit it…life is fast.

We get caught up in everything that we need to get done, especially those things we didn’t get done yesterday. It’s easy to hurry about our day instead of taking the time to slow down. In our heads, we have the mindset of “Go! Go! Go!” and we just aren’t sure how to turn that off sometimes.

Knowing life always seems to be in a hurry is not something we haven’t heard before or are unaware of, but we get so caught up in it that we even forget just how fast it is. Before we know, another day has gone by, followed by another week and another month. We blink and the moment we just had seems to have slipped right through our fingertips.

Then the unexplained happens…

We turn around and wonder how time just seems to move faster when it’s a moment we want to hold onto yet moves every so slowly when it’s a moment we want to be over.

And that’s when we see it…the blur. 

When everything seems to have just passed you by without even taking a moment to wave “hello” let alone stop and chat for a while.

But today, that didn’t happen to me.

This morning, I was out running an errand or two before headed back home to get settled into my normal, every day routine. Something that I purchased was a little bigger than I could carry so the man in the store offered to help me to my car.

Because I had just come from my early morning walk, the man asked me if I was a “runner.” (The shirt I had on was one I received last fall for a race I participated in.)

As we talked a little about running and how many miles he used to run a day, he shared with me that he had to stop running 10-15 miles a day because in 2004, he suffered a heart attack that almost killed him. I told him that I picked up running a few years ago, but sometimes don’t run as much or as far as I would like because of issues with my knee and before too long, we started reflecting on life itself.

We freely commented on what life “really” means and what we both treasure most in our lives, it that moment, our thoughts and our views on life were connected to one another.

After a few more minutes, I wished him well and thanked him for his help.

As I drove away, I immediately thought how quickly that little insignificant moment could have been completely different.

I could have opened the back of my car, said “thank you” and been on my way.

He could have never asked me if I was a runner and just let that never enter his mind.

Like many of you, I have often caught myself wondering, “How many other moments just like this was I too busy to see, let alone take part in?”

Nowadays, there is this fear of missing out (or FoMO) and as much as we love technology and the “connectiveness” it brings, there is still always going to be the chance that we “miss” something.

If you post something on Facebook, it might get lost in my newsfeed.

I might miss your Tweet and I could potentially miss the picture you shared on Instagram too.

There are many more opportunities for me to miss something else…important or not. It may very well happen.

But today, I took advantage of a few seconds to chat with a man I may never see again.

Today, I chose to slow down and connect with another human being that didn’t include an emoji or a “like” button.

No, it was just two strangers taking a minute or two out of their normal day to have a conversation about something as small as running that turned into something like this…

No matter what else I have yet to do, I know it was the best two minutes I’ve spent today.

Michelle A. Homme 2016 ©