Therein lies the formula of leadership today.
That roundabout place where humility says, together, let’s hold hands and figure it out.
We can all use more “let’s” in our lives.
After all, harmony can’t happen on its own.
The seasons teach us about ‘again’. Again the rains fall, again the blooms burst, again the leaves do their maroon curl, and again the snow weds the earth.
Your lungs do the same. One breath…and again, another. And again, another breath. This is why nothing is closer to us than our breath. Its song is the opportunity of consistency.
Tonight’s sunset and tomorrow’s sunrise are interlocking hands that lead us into whatever we may have the opportunity to experience or partake in again.
Scarcity tactics of the mind add fuel to the fiery fear that their won’t be another ‘again’, again.
But abundance, if we’ll pay close enough attention to it, tells us this whole place is available to be beautifully experienced on replay.
So we sow, and again it blooms.
The big rules are not ones we need to rewrite.
The things that we talk about around campfires are what we forget to talk about in our families, businesses, and routine connections.
Faith kindles the flame.
Hope finds another log.
Love stokes the embers.
So you didn’t read Dr. Seuss last night to your child when you had the chance to? What if last night’s magic may not be there tonight? Sure, you are 35 years old for 12 months, but a child is only 3 years and 331 days old for a day.
The candles glow on the dinner table with just enough light to illuminate the table and the faces that surround it. Inch tall flames dance so we may experience and take in this ancient tradition all the while they’re whispering to us, “be here”. Magic. And then the magic of the flame is robbed by screens with faces lit by check-ins, status updates, pins, and tweets all in the name of heart-shaped like buttons.
Gratitude has its longevity, but the beauty of its weight is felt and found immediately when it is initially laid upon us. Take the magic that gratitude offers today…no, take it now. Find some paper, write the note, seal it, stamp it, and drop it in the mail. Your words won’t know if they’re on cardstock or scrap paper. The magic is in the inked writing, not the paper. Who needs to know that you have breathed easier because of them?
What has you inspired, fired up, and focused today may not have the same magic tomorrow. Inspiration funds our moments that are to produce a future that excites us. Magic today is for today and tomorrow’s magic will have its own new name and face for you as well.
Carpe diem, carpe magic.
Ashton.Gustafson 