The Moment Before the Moment

Today is Christmas Eve.

As meaningful days approach, a familiar set of questions tends to surface.

Did I do everything?
Am I prepared enough?
What did I forget?

This is the moment before the moment.

And in that space, there is room to doubt, to worry, to complain, or to feel anxious about what might go wrong or what you missed.

In 2012, I was woken up in the middle of a May night by a frantic wife. “It’s happening,” she said. My response was confident and calm. “We aren’t due for a month. Just go back to bed.” She replied, “I get it, but my water just broke.”

In an instant, I shot up like a cannon and went straight into dad mode.

On the drive to the hospital, we talked about everything we hadn’t done yet. What we forgot. What we might have missed. The pressure felt heavy in the moment before the moment.

But once that little boy entered our lives later that day, everything changed.

We didn’t think about what we missed. We thought about what had arrived.

In the moment before the moment, there is fear and anticipation. But when the moment arrives, clarity follows. Much like the Christmas story itself, the world didn’t change during the waiting. It changed on arrival.

Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, you’ve experienced the moment before the moment.

Your desire for the moment to be perfect is often what robs you of fully experiencing it. What matters most when the moment arrives is your presence.

Can you be where your feet are?
Can you notice what’s good instead of what’s missing?
Can you appreciate what’s here instead of fixating on what isn’t?

You only get so many moments like this in life. So if today feels rushed or imperfect, take a breath. What really matters is arriving, and what you have done in preparation is enough. The gift won’t make the moment perfect; you will.

❝

The moment doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs you present.