Moments that Matter

Sometimes I fear that people at home think I am out saving the world every single day or that my life is vastly different from theirs.  I won't deny that there are HUGE differences in my daily life vs. life in the U.S.  But, just like moving from one city to another, you adjust to the differences.  You learn the dialect/language, you settle in, you learn your way around, you work, make friends, you struggle, and you persevere.  Over time, what was once so foreign becomes second nature.

It's true that the people I work with are extremely poor.  They have a different skin color.  They speak a different language.  But, they have the same blood.  They go to sleep and rise in the morning.  They work.  They laugh.  They cry.  They seek status, education, money, love, religion, and relationships just like anyone else.

All of our time, whether in the states or in Haiti, is made up of moments.  We savor special moments with friends and family.  Our hearts warm in the moments of joy.  Our hearts break in the moments of injustice.  And for most of us, the mundane moments in life get overlooked.  They come and go without being noticed.  

Haiti has taught me that life is precious, the special moments and the mundane.  I want to be more aware.  I want to go through my life with my eyes and heart open to capture these moments and remember them.  Sometimes what might seem like an unimportant moment to one, could be a life changing moment to another.  

For the past several weeks, I have been trying to live by the phrase, "wherever you are be wholly there".  That can be especially hard at times when you have friends and family in two different countries.  But, I'm trying to capture special moments from each day.  Because of that, I've noticed a lot of wonderfully beautiful moments in my daily life that might have otherwise gone unnoticed.

• a first grader sharing her lollipop with a crying pre-schooler
• one student offering to give his hard earned "good behavior tickets" to another student who had none
• a father agreeing to sit in 6 hours of class per day with his son for an entire week, so that his son's behavior can improve and he can stay in school
• Haitians complimenting me on my Creole
• seeing my students take pride in their grades
• my friend buying a Coke for me at the exact moment that I was in need of caffeine 
• my trouble students sitting quietly in class
• a teenage boy taking the time to talk to a 2nd grade girl about why it is important for her to use kind words and not curse at others
• my roommate making sure she bought my favorite produce when she went to the market
• parents coming to a parent meeting and listening intently (not a common occurrence)
• bandaging my landlord's knee after he was struck by a motorcycle while walking
• my student's eye infection getting better after a full month of giving antibiotics
• realizing that the man we buy drinking water from has never tried to hit on me or ask for my phone number 
• a fellow teacher thanking me for the advice that I give him on teaching
• observing my students learning to see the good in each other
• hearing the 2nd grade students speaking sentences in a mixture of Creole and English (Crenglish as we like to call it)
• seeing my students faces light up as I read them stories
• and so many, many other similar moments.

It is these simple moments that we all have that make our lives special.  Whether they occur in Haiti or in the US.  Whether they occur in English or in Creole.  The simple moments matter.

Use your precious moments to live life fully every single second of every single day. -- Marcia Wieder