This morning I watched one of my favorite programs, CBS Sunday morning. Commentator Mo Rocca did a story on the play, “Our Town” and at the end of the piece he wanted to find out if the play was relevant for young people today. So Mo asked four people in their early 20’s to join him at a performance. At the end of the play, two of the four people were moved to tears.

In the interview that followed, I was struck by one young man’s response to Mo. This wise old man of about 24 said the following: “Take a minute to look up at the sky and see how blue it is, and realize that it’s not so bad after all,” to which Mo posed the question: “Is there enough in a sunny day, an ordinary day, to fill the need for stimulation?” The young man answered, “The question isn’t, Is there enough? The question is, Are you looking up?”

Everyday we make choices about the lives we live. Some of the choices are conscious and some are not. But it occurs to me that in order to live lives of meaning and purpose, we have to do a better job of tuning out the negative energy around us. We get worked up when politicians, bent on staying in power and in front of the camera, sling accusations about each other so that they can win elections. And can there be a worse way to begin and end each day than watching the local news, filled with violence and corruption?

These are just a couple of examples. But my point is that every moment is a moment we won’t get back! Do we want to spend those moments feeling bad or feeling good?Paraphrasing a line in “Our Town,” one of the character says in frustration, “You’re 21 and you make a decision and then you wake up and you’re 70.” 

So the question is, “What do we do with our precious moments?”

I vote that we look up and see the blue sky. What’s your vote?