I couldn't let the evens of this week pass without talking about this subject. On August 7th, 2010, tragedy struck Chili. A mine collapsed with 33 miners underground, trapped and presumed dead.
Despite the dire odds that anyone would have survived, rescue efforts began. On August 22nd, nearly two weeks after the collapse, drills were able to break through and it was discovered that just one, but all 33 of the miners were alive, and all things considered, doing well! Then, finally, on Wednesday, October 13th, more than seventy days after the mine collapsed, the miners were freed!
When I see stories like this one, the only word that comes to mind is "miracle". To me, there is nothing else that explains how all of the minors would survive, and in such good shape (they have all been released from hospital less than a week after being underground for more than two months!).
In my short life I've been privileged to see a few amazing miracles like this one. The "miracle on the Hudson" where a large commuter plane "crash landed" without hurting anyone on board comes to mind. These events can certainly be explained with words other than "miracle". People who don't believe in them, can easily explain how individual skill and training allowed Captain Sully to land that plane, and I'm sure there are geologists and others who give scientific explanations for why the minors were not harmed in the mine collapse. The truth though is that there is no logical explanation for why everyone should have survived in either case. But they did.
So what's the point? Beyond a good news story and impact on the families of those involved, what is the take-away for the rest of us from a story like this? Simply this; miracles can happen and most of the time, it takes us to MAKE them happen! Hope is never completely lost. There is always good that can come from tragedy. But we have to play our part in the process.
Miracles, little ones anyway, happen all the time. Who has seen a child be born can say that they didn't witness a miraculous thing? A hundred years ago, who would have said we would send someone to the moon? It now seems likely that in our lifetime, we may witness the development of a cure for MS. But these things don't just 'happen' they take human beings, who care for each other, doing their best to make a difference.
So if you're struggling in the rough economy, if you have problems with your relationships, if you hate your job, or you feel like your friends aren't there for you, remember, miracles happen; but it's up to us to help them along! So go out and make a little miracle in the life of someone today. GB. Mark
Showing posts with label Ordinary Miracles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ordinary Miracles. Show all posts
Monday, October 18, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Simple Pleasures, Beautiful Moments
With each passing year, I come more and more to realize that the greatest joys in life come from simple pleasures and beautiful moments. It truly is "not the years in our life but the life in our years" that matters.
Last night I enjoyed one of those beautiful moments that makes you grateful to be alive. Unlike most nights when I allow my wife to do the work of putting our two year old daughter Emma, to bed, last night I took over the job. I wasn't particularly excited to do it since yesterday was a tough day for Emma. She's fighting a cold, cutting her molars and in general just not in a good mood. She'd been whiny all night and I didn't exactly relish the thought of putting her to bed. But I'm certainly glad now that I did.
After brushing our teeth (yes I have to brush mine too so that she'll brush hers) we went to pick out a story. Emma picked the Sears catalogue to read (one of her favourites... I know it doesn't make any sense, but it's what she likes). After flipping through the pages for a while and finding the dolls and the toys, we closed it and I was ready to put her in her crib, but instead of doing that, I decided to just hold her in my arms and rock her a bit.
Normally, Emma is very squirmy, even at bed time, and doesn't let you hold her for too long. But last night she allowed her father the chance to hold her in his arms and just rock with her and then I started to sing. Nothing in particular, bits and pieces of different songs as lyrics came into my head. It didn't matter what I sang I knew. She just laid her little head on my shoulder and allowed me that simple, beautiful, moment. And it did take my breath away.
So often we get caught up in the constant struggle to create great moments in our lives. We spend months planning elaborate trips and parties, we schedule every minute of our vacations, and we try to pack in as much as we can. We work hard at our fun sometimes. But often, the greatest joys in life, the moments that take our breath away, are the simplest, and the cheapest. They're the moments that sneak up on us. All we have to do is sit back, let them happen and take them in.
Today I wish you many, many beautiful moments. I encourage you to be open to them and when they happen, to recognize and appreciate them. For they are the true treasures of life.
Last night I enjoyed one of those beautiful moments that makes you grateful to be alive. Unlike most nights when I allow my wife to do the work of putting our two year old daughter Emma, to bed, last night I took over the job. I wasn't particularly excited to do it since yesterday was a tough day for Emma. She's fighting a cold, cutting her molars and in general just not in a good mood. She'd been whiny all night and I didn't exactly relish the thought of putting her to bed. But I'm certainly glad now that I did.
After brushing our teeth (yes I have to brush mine too so that she'll brush hers) we went to pick out a story. Emma picked the Sears catalogue to read (one of her favourites... I know it doesn't make any sense, but it's what she likes). After flipping through the pages for a while and finding the dolls and the toys, we closed it and I was ready to put her in her crib, but instead of doing that, I decided to just hold her in my arms and rock her a bit.
Normally, Emma is very squirmy, even at bed time, and doesn't let you hold her for too long. But last night she allowed her father the chance to hold her in his arms and just rock with her and then I started to sing. Nothing in particular, bits and pieces of different songs as lyrics came into my head. It didn't matter what I sang I knew. She just laid her little head on my shoulder and allowed me that simple, beautiful, moment. And it did take my breath away.
So often we get caught up in the constant struggle to create great moments in our lives. We spend months planning elaborate trips and parties, we schedule every minute of our vacations, and we try to pack in as much as we can. We work hard at our fun sometimes. But often, the greatest joys in life, the moments that take our breath away, are the simplest, and the cheapest. They're the moments that sneak up on us. All we have to do is sit back, let them happen and take them in.
Today I wish you many, many beautiful moments. I encourage you to be open to them and when they happen, to recognize and appreciate them. For they are the true treasures of life.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Sick Baby... What Really Matters
I had to stay home with my 1 1/2yr old daughter Emma today. She was sick. I don't know if there is anything quite so sweet and yet so pitiful as a sick baby. She was not at all herself. Usually a ball of energy and smiles and totally independent, today she was very lethargic and cudly. She wanted her Daddy and blanket and didn't want to do much else. As hard as it was to watch her not feel well, it actually kind of nice to spend quiet time with her, just the two of us.
Today I learned something else about being a parent and was reminded about something else involved in being a human being. Being sick (whether with a minor illness like Emma's ear infection, or something major like cancer) has something to teach us about how to live life. Having a sick child is tough. Much easier if it's only a cold or something temporary, but it's still tough. Why? Because we hate to see our kids in pain, but also because we are left, for the most part, completely powerless. We can't make the illness go away (beyond taking them to the doctor and given them medications). All we can do is keep them company, comfort them and wait. I think that's a great lesson about what should really matter to us in life.
In the end what will really matter to you? When you lay on your death bed at 110, and you look back at your life, what will count to you most? Will it be the number of contracts you landed, the number of sales you made, the amount of money in your bank account or the size of your house? Will it matter what kind of car you drove, how far you climbed the corporate ladder or how many diplomas are on the wall? I doubt it. What will matter most to you will be how close you are to your family. How well did you raise your children? How many great memories do you have? What did you contribute to the world?
Of course we should do our utmost to be great (not just good) employees. Of course you should push yourself to be the best you can be and employ every gift and ability you have been given to make a difference in the lives of those around you. And of course you should exercise your intellect, study hard, achieve all that you can and also take time to ENJOY life. We just need to look at all of these things in proper perspective. Because while these things matter, they don't matter the MOST.
Today my baby girl reminded me how important she is and how much I need to be vigilant about being focused on her and my wife rather than my career. Today I was reminded where the true joy in life lies... in a crib across the hall:)
Today I learned something else about being a parent and was reminded about something else involved in being a human being. Being sick (whether with a minor illness like Emma's ear infection, or something major like cancer) has something to teach us about how to live life. Having a sick child is tough. Much easier if it's only a cold or something temporary, but it's still tough. Why? Because we hate to see our kids in pain, but also because we are left, for the most part, completely powerless. We can't make the illness go away (beyond taking them to the doctor and given them medications). All we can do is keep them company, comfort them and wait. I think that's a great lesson about what should really matter to us in life.
In the end what will really matter to you? When you lay on your death bed at 110, and you look back at your life, what will count to you most? Will it be the number of contracts you landed, the number of sales you made, the amount of money in your bank account or the size of your house? Will it matter what kind of car you drove, how far you climbed the corporate ladder or how many diplomas are on the wall? I doubt it. What will matter most to you will be how close you are to your family. How well did you raise your children? How many great memories do you have? What did you contribute to the world?
Of course we should do our utmost to be great (not just good) employees. Of course you should push yourself to be the best you can be and employ every gift and ability you have been given to make a difference in the lives of those around you. And of course you should exercise your intellect, study hard, achieve all that you can and also take time to ENJOY life. We just need to look at all of these things in proper perspective. Because while these things matter, they don't matter the MOST.
Today my baby girl reminded me how important she is and how much I need to be vigilant about being focused on her and my wife rather than my career. Today I was reminded where the true joy in life lies... in a crib across the hall:)
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Re-Discovering JOY and HAPPINESS in Your Life PART 1
"Joy doesn't simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day." Fr. Henri Nouwen
Are you happy? Do you have joy in your life? Are you excited to wake up in the morning? I hope the answer is an emphatic YES. But if not, I hope this article will help.
Let me start by telling you one thing I know for sure; you deserve to be happy. We all do. It's the most basic human rights. I've gone through periods in my life where I've struggled to be happy. I've also had struggles with my worthiness to be happy. Who am I to think that I deserve happiness? Why should I be happy when others are not? Why should I enjoy life when others don't? These were all questions I've struggled to deal with at one time or another. Here are my answers. I hope they help you to realize that you DO deserve happiness and joy, and you can have it, now. Over the next few days we're going to look at some ways that you can re-learn how to be joyful and happy in your life. Here now, are the first three tips. I hope that they help you.
1. Change Your Definition of Happiness: For many in today's consumerist culture, happiness is overly (and sometimes completely) dependent on circumstances. We mistake happiness for pleasure. Happiness means only times when we're celebrating, partying, doing what we want etc. Happiness only comes then if we have everything we want (not need, but want), have lots of money, work we enjoy and can do as we please, we're happy. The problem with this type of happiness is that it is almost completely out of our control. When we leave our happiness up to outside circumstances, we lose our ability to be happy whenever we want to be. We can only be happy when everything is "just right".
So I challenge you to change your definition of what happiness means. To me, happiness comes from: enjoying the gifts in my life (for however long I have them); appreciating beauty all around me (my family, nature, etc); sharing joy with others (bringing a smile to someone else is a great source of happiness to me and you can do it any time); and using my gifts and abilities as best as I can to make a positive contribution to the world.
2. Decide to be Happy - This may sound overly simplistic, and it is. And I will grant you that it isn't always quite this easy. If you are suffering from depression or some other emotional/mental condition, then it will take more than a decision. It may even take help from a professional (and if you feel like you can't ever be happy, I encourage you to get help today). But for those who just feel like they want more authentic, lasting, happiness in their lives, think about this, the only person who can control whether or not you are happy, is YOU.
While the actions of others and our actions in the world have an impact, no one else, not even God, can make us happy without our cooperation. So make a decision today and every day to be happy. It may take work at first, but it can be done.
3. Appreciate the Joys All Around You - Human nature predisposes all of us to take the familiar for granted. It's not our fault, we're wired that way. But that doesn't mean we can't work at better appreciating life's everyday special gifts. Sarah McLachlan wrote a great a song called "Ordinary Miracles" that demonstrates the point beautifully. One of my favourite lyrics is: "The sky knows when it's time to snow, don't need to teach a seed to grow, it's just another ordinary miracle".
Miracles, wonderful things (things that should inspire wonder and awe), happen around us every day. The human heart beats over 35 MILLION times a year. Steadily, perfectly, without fail. It's amazing when you think about it. But most of us don't. That is, until it stops working properly. Sadly, for too many of us, it takes the loss of something before we truly appreciate what we have.
So challenge yourself each day to find something to appreciate. Big, grand things are fine, but look for the special little everyday miracles too. They're all around you.
Conclusion:
So that's it for now. Three quick tips that will hopefully help you re-discover joy and happiness in your life. I hope you'll begin to look at your life in a new way and appreciate more of the "ordinary miracles" in your life today.
Are you happy? Do you have joy in your life? Are you excited to wake up in the morning? I hope the answer is an emphatic YES. But if not, I hope this article will help.
Let me start by telling you one thing I know for sure; you deserve to be happy. We all do. It's the most basic human rights. I've gone through periods in my life where I've struggled to be happy. I've also had struggles with my worthiness to be happy. Who am I to think that I deserve happiness? Why should I be happy when others are not? Why should I enjoy life when others don't? These were all questions I've struggled to deal with at one time or another. Here are my answers. I hope they help you to realize that you DO deserve happiness and joy, and you can have it, now. Over the next few days we're going to look at some ways that you can re-learn how to be joyful and happy in your life. Here now, are the first three tips. I hope that they help you.
1. Change Your Definition of Happiness: For many in today's consumerist culture, happiness is overly (and sometimes completely) dependent on circumstances. We mistake happiness for pleasure. Happiness means only times when we're celebrating, partying, doing what we want etc. Happiness only comes then if we have everything we want (not need, but want), have lots of money, work we enjoy and can do as we please, we're happy. The problem with this type of happiness is that it is almost completely out of our control. When we leave our happiness up to outside circumstances, we lose our ability to be happy whenever we want to be. We can only be happy when everything is "just right".
So I challenge you to change your definition of what happiness means. To me, happiness comes from: enjoying the gifts in my life (for however long I have them); appreciating beauty all around me (my family, nature, etc); sharing joy with others (bringing a smile to someone else is a great source of happiness to me and you can do it any time); and using my gifts and abilities as best as I can to make a positive contribution to the world.
2. Decide to be Happy - This may sound overly simplistic, and it is. And I will grant you that it isn't always quite this easy. If you are suffering from depression or some other emotional/mental condition, then it will take more than a decision. It may even take help from a professional (and if you feel like you can't ever be happy, I encourage you to get help today). But for those who just feel like they want more authentic, lasting, happiness in their lives, think about this, the only person who can control whether or not you are happy, is YOU.
While the actions of others and our actions in the world have an impact, no one else, not even God, can make us happy without our cooperation. So make a decision today and every day to be happy. It may take work at first, but it can be done.
3. Appreciate the Joys All Around You - Human nature predisposes all of us to take the familiar for granted. It's not our fault, we're wired that way. But that doesn't mean we can't work at better appreciating life's everyday special gifts. Sarah McLachlan wrote a great a song called "Ordinary Miracles" that demonstrates the point beautifully. One of my favourite lyrics is: "The sky knows when it's time to snow, don't need to teach a seed to grow, it's just another ordinary miracle".
Miracles, wonderful things (things that should inspire wonder and awe), happen around us every day. The human heart beats over 35 MILLION times a year. Steadily, perfectly, without fail. It's amazing when you think about it. But most of us don't. That is, until it stops working properly. Sadly, for too many of us, it takes the loss of something before we truly appreciate what we have.
So challenge yourself each day to find something to appreciate. Big, grand things are fine, but look for the special little everyday miracles too. They're all around you.
Conclusion:
So that's it for now. Three quick tips that will hopefully help you re-discover joy and happiness in your life. I hope you'll begin to look at your life in a new way and appreciate more of the "ordinary miracles" in your life today.
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