“We do not remember days,” the Italian novelist Cesare Pavese once wrote. “We remember moments.” While some full days are of course very memorable, those days usually contain one or more particular moments that really stand out, like a kiss at the front of the church... the first time I saw Molly and Kate... walking across the stage at a graduation... or a panoramic view that took my breath away. In our memories, these are moments that really matter.

The glue that cements each of these moments into our consciousness is found in the powerful feelings tethered to those experiences. It's like our brains label and organize each memorable moment along with the particular emotions we felt at the time. Many of those emotions are positive -- things like joy, gratitude, wonder, or peace. Others -- like fear, grief, worry, or anger -- have a harder, more painful edge. But one thing is for sure: good or bad, certain moments remain with us always, and many of them end up shaping who we are and how we look at life.

While it may seem that the kind of impacts I am talking about occur only on "once-in-a lifetime" kind of days, the truth is that smaller, more mundane moments can and do have similar impacts. Even though the effects of these more typical "moments that matter" may be more subtle, their cumulative effect can still shape our lives in very important ways.

For this reason, I hope all of us will use the remaining days of summer to try and make some of these "moments that matter." While we cannot dictate how or when those moments will come, we can put ourselves in situations where meaning can be found and personal growth is more likely. A few possibilities are listed in the graphic above, but you can certainly make your own lists. What kinds of things bring you the most joy? Are there events coming up that might bring you closer to other people or help you form new friendships? What can you do to stretch your own abilities and expand your vision of what is possible?

With the freedom we have in the rest of this month, I pray that we will all experience some new moments that really matter.