Twinkle, twinkle, little star....
….how I wonder what you are?” Are you able to look at the night sky without a sense of wonder? I can’t. How did the stars get there and what are they made of? What holds the moon in place? Is the earth on which I stand really rotating around the sun at 67,000 miles per hour? Why don’t I get dizzy? Or worse, fall off? How does gravity work? Even though I know there are scientific explanations for all of this, these questions and ideas engage my sense of wonder. A sense of wonder moves me to the place of paying attention, gratitude, and miracles.
There’s nothing like living life with a sense of wonder to unlock the mysteries of happiness and fulfillment. In today’s world, it is very easy to become jaded, to take miracles for granted. With all the squabbling going on politically and otherwise, it’s easy to get sidetracked and think those things are important in the big picture.
Sure, in the littleness of the small picture, which is where most people live, these squabbles are important stuff. We need to focus on these issues. We need to see how they divide people into competing camps. We need, we need…..
Although I’m not saying the issues of life are unimportant, I am proposing that by spending so much of our life energy focusing on the divisiveness of such things, we deny ourselves the chance to live in grandeur and wonder.
Here’s how the dictionary defines the word wonder: “A feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable” and “to be curious to know something.” Synonyms are: marvel, miracle, astonishment and amazement!
Stop for a moment and really experience the device you’re using to read this article. How did it come to exist? How many people did it take for this article to get to you?
Who made the computer, phone, or tablet you’re using? How many people were involved in its creation and physically getting it to the store, physical or online, where you purchased it? What had to happen for it to arrive by mail, UPS, USPS, or other delivery service?
Is your sense of wonder, of astonishment, beginning to stir?
How did it all happen so that you could be reading these words right now? If this doesn’t cause a sense of wonderment, try this.
The next time you’re in a store or standing on a sidewalk in an area with retail stores, ask yourself how all these things came into existence. Many people had to be involved with designing, building, inventing, selling, buying, managing and so much more for any of it to exist.
I am constantly amazed when I let myself look at things this way rather than merely seeing everything as something that exists for me to use, or worse, not noticing the marvelous things that surround me on an ongoing basis.
Being in nature, of course, can put you into a state of wonder in seconds. How do those trees grow? The flowers? The birds? How does everything just seem to know what to do to become whatever it is? Don’t you ever wonder about these?
Another thing that can move me to wonderment instantly is the human body and all the things it knows how to do without our having to inform it. A question I frequently ask is: “How did the muffin or piece of fruit you ate this morning know to turn itself into hair or a fingernail?”
Wonderment moves us into the state of gratitude, of course. Who can’t say thank you when exposed consciously to all of these wonderments. But more than gratitude, it moves us into a sense of devotion and sacredness. Because truthfully, one can’t stop at wonder.
Once wonder takes hold, it’s a small step to the world of the miraculous. Viewed properly, all of life is a miracle and once you see life as a miracle, guess what you get? More miracles!
“Energy follows thought” is an ancient teaching. Use it to your advantage by focusing on the wonders and miracles that surround you. Then watch what happens to your life!
Living in grace and ease,
Krysta