Better Angels

Oooooh, it's been a good weekend!

Pastor Dan talked about what it is to have a vision at church. He talked about how it requires us to be "all in," and to stand in awe, in anticipation of the great things we will accomplish as we give ourselves over to that vision. And the coolest part? Our vision will take on a Divine magnitude, a Divine power, if we will do those two things: be "all in," and stand in awe.

Joey and I are gaining a new perspective on our life together, and consequently, a new vision for our life together, and part of that vision is quality family time. So, we've started going for walks in our "enchanted forest," not far from our house. Mikayla swears TinkerBell lives there. She's seen her. And yesterday, as we were walking, we met a girl who was feeding the chickadees, and shared some of her seeds. Mikayla has never been more excited. "I fed the chickadees! Chick-a-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee!"

Last night, as I headed to work, I had to choose to be cheerful, despite a pounding headache. And, sure enough, I had downtime during the shift to read. I'm reading University of Success, by Og Mandino. It's a compilation of incredibly successful authors, and last night I read a chapter by Dr. Marcus Bach.

His message was simple enough: if you want a good and worthwhile life, vividly imagine yourself living it, and expect only that life for and from yourself.

That got me thinking about vision again. I want to be a living example of the change I want to see in the world. But I'm not there--yet. I still have a fairly mundane job. I still haven't read nearly as many books, or met nearly as many people, or learned nearly as many languages as I want to in my life. I haven't sung enough songs in enough places, and I haven't taught my daughter all the simple, profound principles I want to yet.

But I know where I'm going! I have a vision, and every day brings me closer, as I renew my connection with the Divine, renew my connection with myself, the planet, humanity. And I gotta say...it's a good feeling. Because there are these moments of unexpected delight, when I find a song that mirrors my thoughts, or when a dream wakes me up from sound sleep with inspiration.

These moments, when I'm "surprised by joy," make living a beautiful thing.