By Maya Baltazar Herrera

There is a song we used to sing a lot and it begins this way: There comes a moment in everyone?s life. There comes a moment in time when you come to a river you just have to cross or a mountain you just have to climb.

It?s a song that?s been running through my mind a lot this week. Both my daughters are graduating this year, one from grade school and one from university. Of course, it is the one graduating from university who is grappling with her moments.

Moments

In the physical universe, time passes in a steady stream?except of course around gravity wells?but that is stuff for theoretical physicists and science fiction writers and readers.

But in the universe we perceive, time seems to go in fits and starts, dragging when we are eager for something to be done, and going all too fast during the precious moments we truly savor. And in the universe of choices and the universe of memories, time is not one strip of experience; time is a collection of moments.

Choices

When we are young, our memory boxes have lots of room. Our moments are less about memories than they are about choices. For the young, everything is wonderful and everything is possible. They stride eagerly through life with hungry eyes and avid hands, constantly searching for discoveries and experience.

My 13-year-old?s schedule is a constant challenge as she tries to find ways to cram everything she wants to do in the waking hours of every day. My other two children, both in college, seem to have decided that the best way to meet this challenge is to sacrifice sleep.

And yet, more sacrifices need to be made. For my littlest one, the choices tend to be between attending a party and watching a concert. For my eldest, it is a choice between taking a trip she has dreamed about virtually her entire life and attending her university graduation.

And, the worst thing, of course, is that there are few clear answers. With choices like these, the decisions tend to be based on some assessment of which loss you would most regret.

Memories

With about half my life already behind me, I know how difficult these choices can be. As I turn over the pages of memory, time is a box of moments, memories that stand vivid in time. Those memories come in all emotions but most come stark and saturated.

In my box of memories, there are some quiet ones. I have memories of long hours spent perched in my personal space high on the branches of our guava tree, my three siblings below me, whiling our summers away. I have memories of afternoons spent in the moist, cool shade of acacia trees, listening to friends strum their guitars as we watched the then still clear waters of the UP lagoon glisten in the sun.

But most of my memories are jumpy and edged: beginnings and endings, celebration and tragedy, laughter and tears. And whether there are more dark spaces in your box of memories than there are light ones, some if it is luck and some of it is providence. But also, some of it, and some people would say much of it, depends on the choices you make.

Transitions and remembrance

And some of our moments are rooted in memory. Some of our moments are those of remembrance: Celebrations of victory and beginnings, quiet moments in memory of those we have lost.

These moments of remembrance help us affirm what is important and true. They help us anchor to what we truly value. And in keeping us grounded, help illuminate our choices.

When the remembrance is not just individual, when it is for a family or a group, or even a company, then the moment is more. The moment becomes an opportunity for passing on knowledge, for passing on history, and for passing on tradition.

In both the quiet and noisy moments of celebration, members of a group can come together and explore where they have been and look forward to the road still to be taken. And those members who are passing on the burden of leadership to the new generation have the opportunity to pass on the stories, the memories and the dreams of the organization. Nourished by the knowledge of where they have been, new leaders can forge upward to fresh dreams.

Milestones

This week, the company I helped found, Solutions Inc. celebrates its 15th year in operations. I thank all of our clients, providers, partners and friends. None of this could have been accomplished without you. But most of all, we thank our associates, whose dreams will one day become the wings on which this company will continue to take flight.

Readers can e-mail Maya at integrations_manila@yahoo.com. Or visit her site at http://www.mayaherrera.com. You can also visit the Solutions Web site at www.solutions-phils.com.