9. APPRECIATE the moments.

Appreciate everything. The good. The bad. And everything in between. Appreciate every moment. Every spectacular and breathtaking moment. Appreciate every mundane and insignificant moment the same. They matter, they really do. Here I am, throwing out too many cliches- but they're true, nonetheless.

The following describes a day of opportunity and hilarity.

The day was bright. The hospital hallways were dim as I wheeled my grandma through the doors, where she would have her another one of her countless appointments. Attendance was signed, while idle feet tapped on the thin carpeted floors. We waited, and waited, and waited, just as we always had. The silence was comforted by her presence. It was enough. It was always enough. Our arms were linked. My head bent down so it rested on her shoulder. We just sat.

It felt like forever and in a way it was. Our forever had been filled with endless waiting rooms, and appointments to pick up medication, and administering various medical practices. But our forever was also filled with tightly squeezed hugs, and warm soul food, and laughing. Forever being by each other's side, telling each other stories, and confiding in one another. This small occurrence at the hospital was a moment. There were many moments, there were as many as there are stars in the sky. But this one was different.

A man walked by as we waited. He was an older, ivory skinned man wearing a polo shirt. His hair was grey and his skin like leather. He approached us kindly and asked whether we could pose for a photo that he would take on my phone. He told us that this was a beautiful moment that we couldn't pass on being captured. There was nothing special at all about what we were wearing, or what we said, or who we were. To him we were nobody.

But he taught me two things that day. The first: Never forsake the "in between" moments. The moments where connections are made, inside jokes are had, and where the relationship flourishes. The moments where you are intentionally choosing to spend time with one another doing LIFE, often the most mundane. Our breath is short, but these are the memories that will live on forever in our minds- not the bold and vivacious moments (they will but are numbered in comparison). But it is the quiet nods of familiarity and the swells of normality that create beauty.

And the second: Never discount the beauty in everything. Regardless of whether you see it or not, it is always there. Recognise. See the full worth of every beautiful moment and of the people you share them with. Capture everything you experience, though be present in everything you experience.

Hours after getting our picture taken, my grandma felt so flattered. We constantly laughed about it in the days to come. These are the moments I love and appreciate the most.

Laurissa Xx