Don't Miss It

It was edging 5:30 and I was "late, late, late, for a VERY important date"(Mr.Rabbit, Alice in Wonderland).

This past week, I've witnessed the sunset every single night and I was not about to miss it tonight. Today was day seven; the one week mark of my endeavor to reduce stress and simply rest. Alas, here I was though, stressing myself out in order to get to the one thing that stressed me the least.

I probably looked insane running around trying not to be late for my very important date. I had soggy, wet hair dripping down my back. The clothes I threw on haphazardly were ten different shades of who knows what. The chacos that laced my feet were ready for the next adventure that lied ahead. The funniest thing was, I had no idea where that adventure would take me. I had no idea where this meeting was that I was on the brink of being late to. I had absolutely no clue.

I might have had no idea where I was going, but my gas gauge and bank account soon informed me it wasn't far. This was probably for the best, after all I was late. I went west; I turned around and went East; I tried going into a neighborhood, no bueno; I finally turned....into a dead end. I was done. I parked the car, got out, and started walking towards the unknown.

I passed a few signs, a barrier, and a few suspicious kids walking without a purpose. Then again, so was I; I couldn't judge. I was on a mission to watch the sunset, go somewhere new, and experience something I've never experienced before. That's exactly what I got.

As I continued walking down the path, all I could think was "wow, this look like a horror movie". ( This should have been the first sign to turn around, but of course, I didn't.) With the wind slightly blowing my wet hair out of my face and the ground slowly turning into gravel, I trekked on vicariously. My eyes gazed at the ground below my feet and the railroad beside me. In light of the circumstances, I did what any 'normal' person would do; I walked on the railroad.

Now before you start freaking out on me, you should probably know I am usually VERY observant of my surroundings. I mean VERY! I was so observant at looking around me, I almost forgot to look down. (This was a very important thing to do.) Remember how I was walking on a railroad track? Yeah, well the track ended! IT ENDED!! Usually this wouldn't seem like a big deal, but considering the track was now hanging off of a river bank and I was about to walk into icy waters, it was a big deal! REPEAT BIG DEAL!!

Thank God (literally) I noticed before I decided I was getting another bath today. Despite the fact the track ended, I came to the conclusion that logically there would not be any trains coming, at least tonight. I was free to sit, stand, and do what ever I pleased in the mean time and watch the sun sink below the treeline.

I plopped down on the edge, swung my feet over, decided it was too dangerous, and retreated into sitting criss-cross on the tracks. The sky above me and the river below me resembled the same shade of blue, while the valentine pink slowly appeared in the distance. This is what I had been rushing around like a maniac to see. This was was the something new I had wanted.

I probably sat there for a solid five minutes snapchatting pictures and editing them till they looked just right. After all, If I came all this way I was gonna get the picture I wanted and make it beautiful. I was overjoyed at the beauty that surrounded me. The river. The clouds. The sunset. The tracks. You get the point. I was so happy I wasn't late and completely missed the show. Although, everyone knows if there's a show, there's bound to be fireworks; And fireworks we had.

I got my rest. I got my pictures. I got everything I set out for. I was ready to go home, when I forgot there was fireworks. As I looked past the treeline directly beside me I was dumbfounded at the display of art in the sky. While I sat there trying to comprehend what was before me, my instincts kicked in and I started running towards the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

I skipped railroad tie to railroad tie as fast as my chaco feet would take me. I turned my back to the river and went to solid ground. As I lifted my eyes from the track to the explosion of fire before me, my jaw dropped as my camera went up. I didn't want to miss this. Everything else could be put on a stand-still, because this was now my top priority: to not miss this moment.

As I stood there on the tracks staring into the field 'on fire', I realized something. This field was so much prettier than the photo-of-the-year worthy river beside me. My expectations of beauty and what it should look like completely changed. My ideas of what I wanted were completely different that what actually brought me the most joy.

This is life my friends.

Our society is jamming our throats down with what everyone else finds beautiful, when we need to find out how we define beautiful. In the end our happiness in life isn't going to be close to what it could have been if we determine now what it should be. Although being different and making a change can be difficult and scary, we "miss one hundred percent of the shots we don't take"(Wayne Gretsky).

Don't miss the beauty beside you as you enjoy what's in front of you. Take it from someone who knows: don't miss it.

Both of these photos were taken minutes apart and have not been edited, in order to show you the difference in color.