Let NOTHING overshadow our present moment

Ever since becoming a parent, i tend to think about future in terms of life stages of my daughter. I dream about helping her do her homework, cheering her on the soccer field, attending her recitals. I picture myself being a super-involved school-mom, driving her from school to some extracurricular practice. I think about all the conversations we will be able to have. I fantasize about the times when she will have her own distinct music interests, and how i will do everything to share them. I can see us running to concerts and shows together. I look forward to helping her through the inevitable teenage angst, sharing my own experiences without being preachy or overbearing. I visualize her as a young lady, smart and accomplished. I imagine spending Saturday afternoon shopping for high-heal shoes together, family hiking trips, and all the times in between. I wonder what it would be like to hold her baby - my own grandchild. I wish for all of these things to come. But, i also now realize, i must not rush time. As beautiful as the future will be, the present is much more precious and must be appreciated. Now our daughter may be still little, but my husband and i both have our youth, our physical abilities, our fresh, still hormonal, feelings toward each other. In the future, when all those things i dream of will start coming true, other things that we now take for granted will surely be lost. As our daughter gains her abilities, we slowly loose ours -- this is nature. When she is old enough to go dancing for 10 hours in 90 degree weather at a music festival, i may not have the lungs to suffer through an hour. When she starts making her own salsa, i may not have the stomach to handle the chilies. In a time when she wishes to run a marathon together, my knees may not be up to the task. So, if i live in anticipation of the future, i will end up with regrets about the past, nostalgic about things lost. Therefore, i must constantly remind myself: "Let NOTHING overshadow our present moment." There is, truly, no time like the present. So, lets enjoy NOW to the fullest, at every stage of our lives, and take things as a package, those things that we have and those that we yet do not.