About three years ago, I was hanging out with one of my closest friends. We had been with each other all day and had driven to the lake to watch the sunset. We sat there a while and the sky had turned to blues and blacks since the sun had gone down. My friend made a comment on how pretty the sky looked and I said it had looked better before when it was still pinkish.

That's when she turned, looked at me and said "Why do you always do that?" I said "Do what?" "You always talk about how things were better before, you never just appreciate what's in the now" was her reply.

And that sentence made me reevaluate my entire life. Because she was right. I always compare the present to a time in the past I deemed to be "better" somehow. I never appreciated the moment I was in, instead I downgraded it.

And even though this conversation happened years ago, her observation has stuck with me. I continue to work on seeing the value of my current circumstance, even if they might not be the best ones.

It's made me realize that moments in life should not be measured by moments in the past. If I keep doing that, I'll never be satisfied with where I am now. I'll be stuck craving what has already happened.

I always see the "live in the moment" quotes on Pinterest, but honestly it's true. And it took wise words from a friend to help me realize that.

Since that moment, every day, I try to find the moments that are different rather than "better" because every second brings a different experience, a different memory, a different time. And while sometime the past seems really great, I can't go back to it. I need to appreciate the now.

So live in the now, as cliche as that sounds. I try to, all thanks to one observation from a good friend.