“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.” -Denis Waitley.
If your familiar with Harry Potter at all, then you know about “the boy who lived.”
To sum it up, He was the very unlikely survivor of a dubious attack by the wizarding world’s most powerful wizard, Voldemort. Because of this He garnered for himself tons of attention, along with some unwanted expectations and unexpected responsibilities. I too, have faced my own powerful evil wizard, but in the form of a massive stroke. Not only did surviving it garner me much attention as well, but also an unexpected responsibility. Although I wasn’t asked to do anything specific, as I regained my mental prowess I suddenly had a sense of responsibility. Because of what happened to me, I felt not only that I should live to the fullest, but also that I wanted to share the good news with others that needed to hear it. Now the fictional Harry Potter and I actually had something in common; We were not only survivors but we had lived, lived through unspeakable horrors, lived to tell the tale, and most importantly lived to inspire others. Unsuspectingly a sense of responsibility was thrust upon me, not because of what happened but in spite of it. I didn’t owe anyone anything, but I had the need and desire to spread the hope, love, and strength I had found with others. If I failed to do that, I felt it was a failure to pay forward the gift I had been given. Other people needed to know what I knew as a result of tragedy and the occurrence of a miracle. Instead of paying forward our negativity or bad attitude, I sought to do the opposite. A nuclear event had happened in my life, and now I and others were sure to feel the after shocks. However, in some way, in the search to minimize the damage I received grace. A grace that allowed me to prosper in a seemingly desert landscape of possibility. In being given this seed of grace, I wanted to plant a forest of hope, love, and light that would generate oxygen for all of us to breathe in. Therefore, nurture your own seed of grace, so that it may grow into a beautiful forest we can all benefit from.
grow it!
