The importance of things that happen when you are waiting for other things

I've been an amateur photographer for many years. The last time I counted my stored photos, I think it was 150,000.

An article from the heart for the most important people I know in the world

Many years have passed since that count, so today there are perhaps twice as many photos. I have images on a wide variety of subjects, but a recurring motif in my photographs is sunsets (the one I post above was photographed on May 29, 2016, in Bayonne). Sunset is a beautiful way to say goodbye to a day, and collecting sunsets is, for me, a way of collecting good memories. Curiously, among my abundant photos, there are very few selfies. I have met many famous people over the past few decades, but I have never asked any of them for a selfie. For me, the important people are my family and my friends. It is with those people that I want to have photos.

Sometimes I think that keeping so many photos can lead to self-deception. That deception would be nostalgia for a happy moment that will never be repeated and of which we keep one or more images to immortalize it. Years ago I sometimes thought: "I wish I could repeat that happy moment again." Thinking like this is like being envious of yourself, specifically of that past self who had something that has now slipped through our fingers. That ends up making you bitter.

I realized years ago that the important thing is to understand how fortunate you are in that moment, that moment that you will long for one day. This has led me to value things that in our society seem to be left in the background, in an eagerness to accumulate objects believing that this will make us happy. I am grateful for all the happy moments I have shared with my loved ones, and also for those to come. If I knew my life would end tomorrow, I would continue to be grateful until the last minute that God granted me.

The truly terrible thing is not realizing what's important when we're living it, as if we were waiting for something better that never comes, a wait that ends up filling us with sadness. Often, the truly important thing in life is what happens when you're waiting for other things to happen, and it's good to be aware of this so you can say tomorrow, with a smile, that you realized it at the time and that you're thankful for having lived it.

I know many of you are already on summer vacation. Whether it's during this vacation or at other times in your life, I encourage you to never let big plans make you underestimate those small, happy moments that we sometimes don't give much importance to, thinking there are many more to come. Think of those moments as if you were seeing yourself from the future and sending yourself a message: "Appreciate what you have, don't be silly." Those things that seem small to you now are the ones you'll miss one day.

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Photo: Elentir.