The Single Woman’s Dash of Sass: 12/12/12. Dare to Believe in Magic!

Quotes of the Day:

Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with glory. ~Betty Smith

In wondering about the big things and asking about the big things, you learn about the little ones, almost by accident. The more I wonder, the more I love. ~Alice Walker

The meaning I picked, the one that changed my life: Overcome fear, behold wonder.  ~Richard Bach

Life is a fairytale. Live it with wonder and amazement. ~Welwyn Wilton Katz

The Single Woman Says:

My mom recently reminded me of how as a little girl, one year for Christmas, I asked Santa Claus for an elephant, a giraffe, and a monkey…and told her they could all live in the garage. Looking back on those days, I can still recall the feeling of wonder that I felt when I would make out my Christmas list for Santa Claus, when I would tiptoe out of bed late at night in the days leading up to Christmas to see if “Santa decided to come a little early,” when I would stare at the Christmas tree and the lights and the ornaments for hours – making up stories and personalities for each of the ornaments. I also remember that same year I requested the menagerie, I also asked Santa for something a little simpler than exotic animals; chocolate ice cream. And though he didn’t deliver on the zoo creatures, come Christmas morning, when I peeked in the freezer, lo and behold, there was a container of chocolate ice cream!

Christmas has always been such a magical time of year for me, and a couple of weeks ago when I took my nieces to see “The Rise of the Guardians,” I remembered why. As they say in the movie: “Santa Claus is the protector of wonder in children.” Now I’m not writing this to encourage you one way or the other to tell your children about Santa Claus…I’m writing this to encourage you to look at this holiday season as an opportunity to get back in touch with your WONDER. With your childlike enthusiasm. With the part of you that once believed that anything was possible. So much about Christmas is built around faith: Faith in the fact that more than 2,000 years ago, a baby was born that changed the world forever…faith on behalf of the children of the world, that Santa will slide down their chimneys on Christmas Eve…faith that the approaching new year will be the best ever. And though we never actually SAW Jesus…and though children never actually SEE Santa Claus…and though we can’t SEE or TOUCH the new year…we still believe with everything in us in the power and magic of all of the above. So isn’t it possible that even though you can’t SEE that breakthrough…it’s on its way? That even though you can’t SEE that healing, its on its way? That even though you can’t SEE that job promotion or that realized dream or the answer to that prayer…they’re on their way?

On this day, 12/12/12, at exactly 12 mins, 12 seconds after 12 o’clock, the time will be 12:12:12, 12/12/12. This will not happen again before 2112. Isn’t THAT enough to leave you a bit wonderstruck? This magical moment will not happen again for one hundred years! And a date with sequential numbers will not happen again EVER! Pause for a moment and consider that. And then look past the work and the worry and the stress and the fear to the simple beauty of LIFE. Dare to believe in something larger than you. Dare to let yourself be awestruck. Dare to hope again. Surprise yourself. Delight in the magic of the season, and of the precious wild unknown of your life. Look at the world around you through the eyes of wonder. And most of all – Hold tight to the knowledge that the best is yet to come.