It’s how an ordinary day becomes extraordinary.
I don’t know it’s going to happen when I open I eyes. I’m just glad for another day and I try to practice all the mindfulness and awareness possible before I’m wired with caffeine and internet. If I’m not behind schedule with the alarm maybe I’m hopeful.
I’m hopeful the agent calls with good news.
I’m hopeful a residual cheque is in the mail.
I’m hopeful there’s creative inspiration.
I’m hopeful bad news is averted for another day.
And then bam, there’s a moment.
Actually it doesn’t come with a bam, it’s quiet, but definitive. A phone call. Or an email. A seemingly random selection of words…
“it would be nice if Lisa or Kimberly just happened to be in Jamaica at that time“.
When our father died my sister and I established a scholarship fund to give back to the school that had given so much to him as a boy. He attended on a scholarship and access to education changed the course of his life. He never took the privilege of education lightly. In lieu of flowers donations could be made to the fund. Plans were set to award the funds to a deserving student from that academic year.
The email announced they’d found a candidate and the presentation was happening November 22, just over a year since his passing. It’d been a rough year. Grief is hard. Work was harder. Funds were tight.
“It would be nice if… happened to be in Jamaica at that time.” I snorted when I read the email,“Yeah it’d be nice. As if. But almost immediately I questioned my quick dismissal.
I didn’t know how much it cost to fly to Jamaica, I didn’t know if it was prohibitive – so I turned to Google. Sweet constant Google, there whenever I am in need.
The fare wasn’t unmanageable, especially in the context of presenting the inaugural scholarship in my father’s name, at his beloved alma mater, in his hometown. It was a pretty extraordinary once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The choice was mine to make the extraordinary happen.
That’s how a regular day gets super-sized to extraordinary. A simple follow up email and a casual thought. And a choice.
I could have left things with the assumption that flying to Jamaica in two weeks was folly. But paying attention to that small moment of pause changed the course of a day.
Life changes in an instant.
Don’t assume.
The impossible may be possible.
The extraordinary can happen at a moments notice.
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