CinemaSnark

The moment in question is the chance for Pat Jr. to chase after Jennifer Lawrence and confess his love for her. Is there anyone among us who would not do the same? Show of hands?

Yeah, that's what I thought. We'd collectively chase after her in a way she'd probably find annoying and alarming by equal measures.

It doesn't really matter what moment we're talking about, though. What I'd like to focus on is recognizing the moment for what it is in the first place: that's the key.

I'm sure I'm not the only one here who has looked back with 20/20 hindsight and thought, "Dang. Wish I'd noticed that when it happened. Too bad I was distracted by that new Tic-Tac flavor." The big, important moments in your life rarely bother to alert you to what they are. They don't jump up and down, shouting, "Pay attention, dummy! You're deciding the rest of your life right now!" It's not until time passes and you sit in your lousy apartment, your mom's basement, your foreclosed mansion, or your jail cell and think, "Well, shit."

I have people in my life - whom I love dearly - who spend a great deal of time reflecting on the past. They revisit choices they made years ago as if there's still a chance to change the outcome. It's a dangerous habit, because it prevents the same weight of attention being paid to the future or even the present. If you're not paying attention to what's happening right in front of you, you can't very well notice how important it is. Hell, you might not even notice it at all.