I can’t believe that it’s been thirty weeks since New Years! Time goes too quickly.

William Aloysius Keane was an American cartoonist best know for his 1960s-1990s newspaper comic, The Family Circus. He was the author of nearly 90 comic books and his son Jeff Keane is still producing The Family Circus comics today.

This past week I went hiking with some of my siblings. Parts of the trail were going to be pretty rough, so I decided not to take my camera. At this time of year, nature couldn’t have been any more beautiful on the hike. Tall looming trees surrounding the trail, big round patches of deep green meadows, cliffs, gorges, and amazing wildlife made it a wonderful experience (despite getting hit in the knee with stinging nettles). At one place on the trail, there was a deep ravine to be descended and then a climb up the other side. When I got back to the top, everything was just so beautiful that I really wished I had taken my camera for the hike. If I had had it, I could have gotten some amazing footage and captured some awesome photos. It would have been nice to have something to remember the hike by and I was very disappointed that I hadn’t brought a camera. Later down the trail, I found a patch of sparkling quartz rocks. I picked up a tiny one, dusted it off, and held it in my hand. Today I consider it a keepsake of the trail, something that will forever remind me of that hike.

I realized that I didn’t need a camera to capture every single memory of my life. Yes, it’s always great to have pictures of the great times in your life, but sometimes you just have to forget about that, stop worrying, and live in the moment. Set your mind to enjoy the present and focus on the here and now. Let your heart be content with the time at hand and appreciate the experience.

I was so focused on not bringing a camera with me that I got distracted and couldn’t appreciate what God had given me, a beautiful moment to live out. I’m glad now that I’ve learned that lesson so that I can focus on enjoying the present even without a camera, and I hope to remember that lesson for a very long time.

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Have you ever read The Family Circus?

Do you like hiking?

Have you ever forgotten to live in the moment?

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Megan Joy