Remember connecting the dots as a child and watching the picture emerge?
Remember the sense of satisfaction when you recognized the picture?
Remember colouring the picture, adding vibrancy and energy?
Are you still doing that? Are the defining moments of your life connected to reveal your truth? Is there energy and enthusiasm generated through those moments?
What does it take to savour and enjoy each moment: the highs and lows, the opportunities and challenges, the calm and exciting, the peaceful and passionate, the laughter and the tears, the shared and the alone times? The moments of our lives are precious times to be cherished and enjoyed, to learn from, to share with others, to work through and from which to grow. By connecting those moments through the touchpoints of people, places, and experiences we discover truth and our own unique gifts; our own path forward.
The colouring book was left lying open in the middle of living room floor. The faintest outline had emerged because the dots had been connected. Splashes of color had been added, but the picture was not complete. Daddy had come home and Mom had called me to dinner, the crayons and colouring book forgotten in my eagerness to share in the evening conversation.
“What did you do today, Sweetheart?” Daddy asked.
“I played in the backyard and then came inside to colour.” I said.
“And what did you colour?” he replied.
Half-way out of my chair, bubbling over with accomplishment, I ran from the table to the living room, scooped up the book and was back before anyone realized I had left the table without asking to be excused. “Look,” I enthused, “Isn’t it beautiful?”
There it was, a tropical scene with an emerging rainbow of colors only a child could imagine putting together. “Mom says that a rainbow is God’s promise for a new tomorrow. Isn’t that just the best, Daddy?”
Lifting me into his lap, my Dad exclaimed appropriately over the picture, hugging me in the process and letting me know how much he cared for me. Mom smiled as she too looked at my picture. Kissing the top of my unruly curls as she went back into the kitchen, she said “Don’t forget to enjoy the rainbows of today as well.”
Little did I know how prophetic that brief moment was to be, for years later I found myself living in the land of rainbows and sunshine, beautiful Hawaii nei. There I was able to share my life, my thoughts and ideas with family and friends, while raising my son. It was there I learned to appreciate the rainbows that appeared on a daily basis. And the statement my Mom had made about rainbows being God’s promise for a new tomorrow took on new meaning at various moments in my life. I grew to appreciate the importance of those new opportunities to begin again, to share, to learn, to dance, to grow. And a few years later, as the Daddy I adored lay in his hospital bed, saying goodbye to each of us, I felt again his special love and care, emerging over time and space as he said his last words to me, “From the very first moment I saw you, I loved you!”
Another dot, another link, another connection between small moments and large – the picture continues to emerge . . . And even in the era of COVID-19 the moments continue. The connections may be different and our smiles may be masked, yet the overall picture continues to emerge. What pictures are emerging in your life, your family, your business? How are they influencing your conversations?
