build your beautiful self

I took my daughter to a local carnival last night to watch the fireworks show they put on every year. We had not gotten our fill of them this year so I wanted to get to this one because they always put on a good show. We sat with friends socializing, talking about everything and nothing while we waited for the time to come.

All at once the bright spot lights of the softball fields went off and the park went dark. We hurried to the fence to watch the show. Colorful explosions start ripping through the darkness with a loudness so extreme you couldn’t help but smile.

As I was watching the beginning bursts, my thoughts went to the people surrounding me and the emotion at this moment that took over my mind. I started thinking about all of the good there is to be had in the world. Remember when you were a child and the thrill of the fireworks display was scary and exhilarating all at the same time. It was a happy rush watching as the fireworks lit up the sky and the smiles it brings to the faces around you!

As I reflect, I realize that you could equate fireworks to life! Who isn’t happy while watching fireworks? It sums up the score of the true beauty behind living in this country. I watch beautiful displays coming from a pinpoint location, either shooting sparks from the ground or watching what looks like a shooting star, stream through the darkness and create something beautiful! As I sat and watched, about half way through the show, I hear the group of slightly drunken men sing our national anthem in their goofy, sincere way. Started with 1 guy and spread infectiously to the rest of their group. How can you not smile and feel at peace at that moment??

Life resembles the fireworks display. Cutting through the dark times you can create a massive explosion that turns into something beautiful that people can admire. I mean, no matter what is going on in life or the lives of those surrounding you, you can’t help but smile and know that everything is alright in that moment in time. People come together to sit and watch the beauty unfold. No one is fighting, no one is angry and everywhere I looked in the crowd, there wasn’t one person not smiling. Reflecting on the moment in time, I envisioned the fireworks display as a metaphor to life.

You move through your life from the time you were born anticipating things to come. If you think about it, each point in your life starts with a small spark, a small flame that grows into something you shoot into the world. It builds and rises, and grows then before you hit your goal/destination/accomplishment you take a moment to let the fire get into your core and BOOM! It explodes into a beautiful moment that forever changes you and those around you!

Just as the display goes on, the moments in your life continue. Sometimes many things happen at once that are amazing, and sometimes, only a couple. Then you get to the point of that grand finale where you finally have built everything up to reach that point where everything is happening for you. All that you have wanted in your life at that moment, and when it happens, it is beautiful, and exciting, and breathtaking and loud! Everyone screams with pleasure and it is over. Time to start over at the next fireworks show, just like life. You reach your goal and it is amazing, then on to the next one to build your next grand finale, reach your next goal, build your next amazing show.

As you are building, there may be tough times, points where the fuses don’t light, or the explosion is small on one, big on another. You may find some duds in there, but you have to remember that it is the combination of the pieces you put togther and the sum of the whole that makes the show so amazing. When people see you explode with beauty, they can’t help but be happy and amazed and fulfilled to watch….even if it is only a moment in time.

To the gentlemen that were to my left singing, I am forever grateful to be an eavesdropper on your concert. It created extra emotion and enjoyment for me to know that you were so moved by the show, you felt the only thing you could do was sing. You were, by far, my favorite moment of that time and I will not forget it.

Happy Sunday!