My wife and I had the pleasure of visiting my son in Houston last week. He took us to NASA headquarters – The Johnson Space Center. They have a wonderful museum and tram tours of their facilities that we enjoyed.
The technology, the machines, the space suits, the stories were incredible. Being older, I remember the Apollo space program and seeing our astronauts walk on the moon. Hearing the now famous historic quote “Houston, we have a problem.”.
Today, our fascination with space has been minimized to watching science fiction and super hero movies. Only by my visit, did I see first hand (and could appreciate) the millions of man-hours focused on bring our historic space program to life.
NASA was never on my mind before our visit. Never did I think about how hard it was to put people into space and bring them back safely. Never did I think about the thousands of individuals who would test, change, and improve things focused solely on accomplishing this giant mission of safe space travel. Much of it done without today’s powerful technology present.
I simply was living my life prior to my visit. Immersed in its daily routine, challenges, and minor victories. And then it occurred to me. How different each of our lives really are. How impact and accomplishment can occur in a person’s life in so many different and unrelated ways.
It reminded me that we must make the most of what we have and try to be all of the person we can be. Regardless of our walk in life or the circumstances we have been given.
Our goals may not be to visit the moon or Mars but they are just as important. Let’s not forget this as we continue to live each of our days.