I’m not much of a sweets person, but I have to admit — I have an ice cream weakness. The fancy, small-batch, designer flavors, especially.
The other day, I was with a friend when she suggested we stop at this great ice cream shop. I got excited immediately. I ordered a scoop of chocolate zucchini bread. That first bite was absolute bliss. Creamy, rich, perfect.
Then we kept talking, and I kept eating. Very soon, I found myself taking the last bite. It hit me — I barely noticed the middle. I remembered the first bite and the last bite, but everything between was just… gone.
It made me think: Were those calories worth it if I didn’t fully experience the whole thing?
Life works the same way.
We often overvalue the first moments and last moments — the beginnings and endings — while rushing through everything in between. But life is lived in the middle bits. In the present moment.
Think of life like an hourglass. Time only passes through one tiny opening — the now. We can’t live in yesterday. We can’t live in tomorrow. Yet we spend so much of our lives planning for the future or replaying the past that we forget to taste the moment we’re in.
The goal isn’t to live 100% in the present — that’s unrealistic. We have goals to chase and lessons to remember. But we can spend a few more seconds in the present each day.
We can pause.Notice.Taste.Feel.Appreciate.
Enjoy the middle bites.
Because that’s where life actually happens.