It has been said that, “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away.”

At the age of 31 there have been many moments that have helped to shape my life. From learning to ride a bike when I was five, and falling off that bike while racing a friend, my first boyfriend, making new friends (and losing some along the way), learning to drive, and high school graduation. The moments I use to measure my life have been accumulating from the moment I was born, and I didn’t even scratch the surface of those crazy moments in college. The fact of the matter is, our life IS measured by the moments that take our breath away, whether those moments are positive or negative. The moments are most likely interspersed throughout the years, with in between memories like eating breakfast or driving to work, long forgotten compared to the importance of others. However, what happens when there are no in between moments? When every moment you experience has the power to shape your life?

Using my recent 10-day experience with Israel Outdoors, I would like to carefully examine this question. There are 1,440 moments in a single day, meaning there are 14,400 moments which gave life to the ten days I spent in beautiful Israel. Sifting gently through the myriad moments, how do I decide which of the 14,400 treasures accurately measure what resides in my heart and soul? How do I place the importance of one treasured moment above any other? For me, after taking a journey through the intricate mosaics now making up my soul, the answer is complicated; and yet it is simple.

My journey began the moment I met two fellow participants at JFK, waiting at the wrong Brussels check-in desk; the strength of our immediate connection taking my breath away. Days later this moment melds with another in Yad Vashem as my new friend and I stand in an emotional embrace surrounded by darkness, further embraced by the names of lost children never forgotten; a moment when again my breath is taken. Next, another moment on the bus when I am invited into the hearts of two others as roommates, and sharing bedtime stories in our darkened hotel room creates a bond of sisters never to be broken.

Doubling back to our first hotel in Tiberius, connecting the moment I soak myself, attempting to show my first roommate a workaround with our free-hanging showerhead. The old tube TV whispers to us from the corner of the main room where our other roommate sits contemplating our laughter. The inside jokes, and traps set for our leaders; purposely using myself as the butt of the joke. Traveling to Old Jerusalem where a Crimson Bracelet finds its way to my left wrist. The bracelet weaving its way throughout the moments I’ve collected thus far while photo-bombing each other, and joining in with local Bar Mitzvah celebrations. Journeying deep into the desert night, where I stand with my new family in silent awe as we gaze into the star filled night sky of beautiful perfection. We stand listening to our beloved leader as he tells us a story, our hearts filled with love and respect, taking my breath as I feel the connection weaving itself intricately among us. Later wandering the desert in the dark with one of my brothers, searching the ground for lost treasures using only the light from our phones and the night sky, to guide us. Tucking away the treasures we found, and joining the family singing around a bonfire, where my loved ones encouraged me to share with them a song I wrote.

That love for my leader, melding with a moment at Masada, just before sunrise, when I felt the encouraging love and strength again as our medic said, “You are not trying, you are DOING!” to which my leader replied, “No, she’s DONE!” Looking up to find myself at the top. Combining with the wonder as I watch my brother speak in almost fluent Hebrew with a taxi driver, who knew he could do that!? Joining further as I stroll with my loved ones along the boardwalk in Netanya, laughing and enjoying the night breeze off the Mediterranean; and the moment when I look to my left to find someone kneeling next to me, my brother ready to help and make sure I’m not hurt, before I even process being on the ground after an embarrassing fall.

Singing cheesy ‘90’s songs with my brothers and sisters at the back of the bus, and “DJ E.” is born. Learning the words to Tel Aviv and the translation. Long, heated talks out on hotel balconies, giving me insight to take home. The connection continues to strengthen throughout the journey, with more and more moments capable of stealing my breath and imprinting a picture on my soul. In the final group activity, frozen by my indecision as to which of my loved ones I should recognize in front of everyone. How was I to choose just one, when each played such an important role? My life, a jigsaw puzzle of 44 pieces, finally complete. I never expected the family I would gain on this adventure, each new brother and sister taking my breath away with their acts.

So…my answer is this…14,400 moments I spent with 43 amazing people, 10 days of memories that took my breath away repeatedly. But I will not choose one moment over another when I measure my life; because really, those thousands of moments are not individual beings. Every single one of those 14,400 moments I enjoyed are intertwined in the threads of the simple crimson circle surrounding my wrist. A circle creating the most important moment in my life thus far. The moment my life began again, the moment when I found my family.