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'AHA' Moment: When mind, heart connect, it's magic
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Published: August 23, 2009
Kiss your life. Accept it, just as it is. Today. Now. So that those moments of happiness you're waiting for don't pass you by.
Author Unknown
I could see the light in his eyes as he participated in class and grasped the purpose of the session. "He got it," I said. "Yes!" It was a magical moment for me, as a trainer. An experience to savor.
That was the essence of a message I received recently from The Daily OM (www.dailyom.com), a Web site that nourishes the mind, body and spirit. It was about enjoying those experiences referred to as "magical moments."
"The truly noteworthy events in our lives are often the least momentous yet the most wonderful," read the message. They can be events like the "aha" moment the student in my Dale Carnegie class experienced. They are events that "are the magical moments in which we are simply awestruck by the wonderment of life."
"They stick with us only when we recognize the impact they have had on our mood, our day, and our lives," the message stated. "When we cherish such occurrences, we condition ourselves to take note of them when they happen and appreciate the value they add to our lives."
Sometimes that moment takes on another quality. I asked a friend to describe one. "It wasn't just a magical moment," she said. "It was a spiritual magical moment. Where God's Grace shown so brightly it took me to another level of faith. It was amazing!"
For another, a business owner, it was holding her first grandchild and marveling at how much he looked like her. The " ‘magic' of heritage is astonishing and humbling."
One moment that continues to be emotional for Dr. Keith Phillips was arriving at the Greensboro airport after a 30-hour trip returning from Cameroon last year. He was emotionally and physically exhausted "after being confined for a week in the midst of major civil unrest." He vividly remembers walking off the airplane and seeing his wife and kids running toward him with their arms open. "I think it is in those truly magical moments, that the love is so thick that nothing else really matters."
For another person, it was learning a new piece of music. He was "stymied by one section of the piece" when his breakthrough came. "Yesterday afternoon, my fingers and my mind suddenly saw the passage another way and within minutes I had it ... I had it. It was magical because not only did I have this passage and now the whole piece, it also meant that I would now be able to play other pieces just like it."
A friend recalled his sophomore year at Appalachian State University. A young lady he had recently met "was just looking at me ... and then it started," he said. "I just started melting, like a double-scoop ice cream cone in an August heat wave." Five weeks later they were engaged. "This morning I was privileged to look into those same wonderful eyes and know that God has truly blessed me with my wife." Married almost 29 years now, he says, "It was and is still magical."
Don't let your concerns and daily tasks get in the way and block the many "magical moments" that fill your day. Take note and savor each one.
The "magic" is in how you react to them.
■ Nigel Alston is a Dale Carnegie trainer and motivational speaker who lives in Winston-Salem. He can be reached at nalston1@triad.rr.com.
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