"Only in still waters can you see" -- Chinese Proverb

Alive & Well Archives

December 2001

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TODAY'S QUOTE:  “Life isn’t a matter of milestones, but of moments.”

                                                            -Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy

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TODAY'S TOPIC:  Celebrate Life's Magical Moments

Have you ever noticed that sometimes we focus on what’s wrong rather than what’s right? It seems we often forget that even in the midst of bad, there is plenty of good. Even in our hardest times, we always have something to be grateful for, and we always have magical moments.

Let me give you an example. Recently, I caught myself focusing on what was wrong rather than what was right. As a personal growth experience, I challenged myself to climb up a pamper pole, which was a 50 foot pole the width of a telephone pole. After climbing up, the challenge was to stand on top of the pole while the pole swayed. Once at the top, the next challenge was to jump to a trapeze suspended roughly 10 feet in front of the pole.

My goal was to get up the pole and jump to the trapeze. I'm terribly afraid of heights, so this was a *huge* challenge for me. When I got to the top, I had one foot completely on top of the pole and was attempting to get the other foot on it. Of course, the pole was swaying as I was doing this, and my whole body was shaking. Unfortunately, as I was bringing my other foot on top of the pole, I lost my balance and fell from the top.

When I got to the ground, my teammates rushed over to congratulate me on getting to the top.  They were all very excited for me, and they hugged me.  But I was in tears, because I didn’t stand fully on the pole, and I didn’t get to jump to the trapeze. In my mind, I failed miserably. I focused on what was wrong rather than what was right. I looked at what I didn’t accomplish vs. what I did accomplish. While I punished myself for not standing fully on the pole, I should have congratulated myself for stepping through my fear and climbing the pole.

There was so much *good* in this experience, yet I focused on the bad.  During this experience, there were *magical* moments. When I was 50 feet in the air, I saw a gorgeous sunset overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii.  It was magical! I heard my teammates yelling, “One more step” and fully supporting me. I felt my courage as I took the last step to stand on the pole with nothing to hold onto (except my harness). Yes, these were magical moments, but I forgot to focus on these.

Don’t we often do that? Don’t we often look at what’s wrong vs. what’s right? Don’t we often forget the magical moments in life?

This has been a hard year for the United States. The economy has weakened, and many people have lost their jobs. Many have lost money in the stock market. Of course, many lost their lives September 11, and that day still has an emotional effect on the United States.  

Yet even though it’s been a rough year for Americans, we’ve still had many magical moments, individually and as a nation. Magical moments do not need to be large events. Instead, magical moments are those small things that make us laugh, smile, cry and feel good. For example, we saw tremendous courage and compassion after September 11. We’ve seen strangers reach out and help each other, especially in New York. In Denver (where I live), volunteers of America usually have about 2,000 volunteers during this time of year. This year they’ve had 6,000 volunteers. You see, as a nation, we’ve had many magical things happen.

I know I personally have had many magical moments this year, even though I’ve lost a lot of money in the stock market, and I’ve had many challenges.  Let me give you some examples of my magical moments so they may inspire you to think of yours.

*I watched a meteor shower with my boyfriend at 2:00 am on a freezing November night. We drove out of the city so we were away from lights, and sat in a field. As we watched nature at her finest, we buried ourselves in blankets and drank hot chocolate. It was incredibly beautiful and *magical.*

*I went down a children’s pool slide with a new friend. I smiled and laughed the whole way down as I tried to pick up speed. I hadn’t done that since I was a child, and I felt like a little kid as I flew down the slide.

*I played Monopoly with my family and for no reason, we laughed hysterically for at least 10 minutes. Tears streamed down my face as I gasped for air.  

*I watched a blind man climb the pamper pole I described above. As he stood on top of the pole, it was truly *magical,* and I got goose bumps.

*I watched my 11 year old nephew build up his courage to call a girl he liked and ask her out.  

*My floor hockey team won a game against one of the hardest teams in the league. We were all dead tired at the end of the game, but we pulled out a victory in overtime! When the ball hit the goal and we won, it was *magical!*

*I played pool with my friends and actually got in a few balls! This was magical for me.

*I had a woman tell me she felt stronger than she’d ever felt after she applied the principles I spoke about in one of my speeches.

You see, my friends, in the midst of a hard year, there have been many magical moments. This is just the beginning of my long list. There have been many things that have been good, even when many have been bad. There have been many “wrongs,” but there have been many more “rights.” Even in a tough year, I have a lot to be grateful for, and I know you do too.

I hope your holidays are filled with peace, joy, love and many magical moments! Happy holidays and a blessed New Year.

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Coaching Challenge

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Think back over the past year. What were magical moments for you? Think of special moments when you laughed, when you played like a little kid, when you felt deep feelings of love, when you saw a magnificent sunset. What do you have to be grateful for? Make a list of your magical moments. Don’t let this year pass without thinking about and re-living your magical moments. On an on-going basis -- daily, weekly or monthly -- capture and record your magical moments.