Did you ever feel something wonderful come into your life, as though it simply fell out of the sky into your lap?
No?
Are you a bit like Chicken Little, or did you just become too cynical to believe that goodness, not doom, can fall from the sky?
This is a judgement-free zone, here, so either answer is acceptable.
Life is challenging. Hard. Exasperating. Unfair. Painful. And as humans, we are all facing some version of the struggles our childhood fairy tales told us about.
Chicken Little interprets an acorn falling as a sign that she is doomed. She is so hysterical, she convinces her peers that the sky is falling, and they become filled with doom, too. In one version of the story, their sense of doom leads them into the safety of a fox’s den, where they are eaten, proving their fears were true.
But not exactly.
It’s so easy to get permanently locked into defense mode when it comes to life. Pain hurts. Failure humiliates. Hardships test us beyond our self-imagined limits. Doubts multiply like, well... you know.
So we shore up our defenses and protect ourselves from any more, thank you very much.
And yet. There is just as much magic in the world as there is pain. Look around you at the beauty of nature, the unexpected kindness of strangers, the courage of countless people to persevere and conquer their challenges, the sense of wonder in a little child’s eyes.
Where we focus our attention matters. What we seek, we will find.
Next time you look up at a sky that fills you with wonder, take a minute and acknowledge how that feels. Express your gratitude about it. Lock it in.
Then feed it. Nurture that desire to see the wonder of life. Your psyche is willing and able to show you what you want to see. It truly is your choice.
One magical way to nurture your sense of wonder is to write a haiku. Actually it’s more than magical. It’s transformative, comforting, inspiring, enlightening and cathartic.
Three lines of words, intentionally called from your inner self to say one small thing is like the power of the acorn that fell on Chicken Little’s head. It only meant to find its way into the ground, where it could grow into a mighty oak tree.
But instead, it was labeled a doomsday threat that led to the demise of a sweet, but hysterical little soul.
Many things fall out of the sky, and the more we practice seeing the wonder of it all, the more likely they will be gifts. Even if they seem like doom, at first.
Heal yourself with some haiku, my friend. Find your inner well of courage, strength, vision, faith and comfort. Be the creator of your own version of what falls out of the sky.
Then put a pillow in your lap and wait.