Camelot
Miracles come in moments. Be ready and willing.
~Wayne Dyer
Have you had a period in your life that seemed truly magical?
- When it seemed like you were happy all the time
- When the people you spent time with were fun and easy to be around
- When everything you did seemed infused with a sense of adventure and joy
- When your relationships were deep and strong and gave you a sense of nervous anticipation (the good kind)
When we have those times, it seems like they will last forever—it is our Camelot.
But then somehow they don’t.
People change, circumstances change, priorities change. We may remain close with our best friends, but the dynamic evolves as the people evolve. This may lead us to believe that the magic is over—that we will never find it again. If we believe this, we won’t.
We will spend our time looking for it, when it is actually right in front of us.
It’s like eating the perfect peach.
We eat a peach one day, and it’s absolutely fantastic: sweet, juicy, the ideal consistency. We might have another one the next day, and it has some soft spots—the consistency is a bit mealy. Do we give up on those peaches? On peaches in general?
We go back to the store and buy more peaches, desperate to recreate that perfect peach experience.
Uggh! These peaches aren’t as sweet, and the pit is coming apart as we eat it.
So what should we do?
- Give up on peaches (our Camelot friends)?
- Give up on fruit (our other friends)?
- Give up on other food (people we haven’t even met yet)?
Of course not. We keep eating. We keep trying new food. We try old foods we haven’t had in a while. We experiment with our cooking and preparation.
In food, and in life, there is always another Camelot. But if we try to hang on to, or recreate a previous one, we will invariably be disappointed.
“But what about the magic?!” you ask. “Should we stop trying to recreate the magic we had?”
I will let you in on a little secret: If you had the magic, you still have it—you just don’t realize it. If you choose to, you can have your Camelot permanently.
Gaining access to your magic requires three things:
- A flexible perspective
- An open mind
- Initiative
Perspective: Don’t be on the lookout or wait for magical moments to happen. You’ll miss the magic moments that are happening. You have to become the magic yourself. You have to be King Arthur. You have to be the perfect peach.
Open mind: You have elements of Camelot in each moment of your life, but you have to be open to them being special. Don’t be automatically dismissive of what and who is with you in any given moment. Take a fresh look. Engage in interesting ways and look for interesting responses. Learn to recognize the magic. It’s a big, exciting world—believe me, the magic is there.
Initiative: If there’s any chance for magic to happen, always take it. Don’t ever let the commonplace become your default mode. Take chances, talk to people, do things, take risks. There’s magic in every moment of every day, but you won’t experience it if you don’t grab it.
Magic is like the gold ring on a merry-go-round. You can see it and grab it, or you can look away and just go in circles.
Make your whole life your Camelot.
Don’t settle for anything less.
