“Oh wow! Look!”
Today was one of the rare days when I beat my dad to the shower. We were sitting at the kitchen table, talking. As I got up with my coffee mug to go to the office, I peeked out the window.
“Oh wow! Look!”
The sky was red as fire. We both stepped outside and just marveled at the sunrise. I snapped a photo:
For a brief second after, I thought: “Man, I gotta capture this. Let me take a time lapse. The clouds are moving so fast!” But I realized it wouldn’t look remotely the same, so I let it go and we just watched the clouds pass by and the sky clear up.
We contemplated about the nature of sunrises.
Me: “You know, the actual duration of a sunrise is often just a few minutes. It’s dusk and dawn that are long, but the sun rising or setting from the horizon happens really fast.”
Dad: “Yeah, it depends on where you are on the globe. The closer you are to the equator, the faster the sun rises and sets.”
Interesting!
The whole incident took less than five minutes, but wrapped in it is an abundance of wonderful experiences.
- Joy. We got to see one of nature’s most mysterious, fascinating wonders in its full beauty.
- Learning. We learned that depending on where you stand on this world, a sunrise or sunset might be a very different event.
- Mindfulness. Instead of obsessing over capturing the moment and losing it in the process, I settled for watching, taking it in and enjoying it just for myself.
- Connection. I spent three more minutes of quality time with my Dad. I would take no sum of money over that.
- Awareness. We inevitably thought about time and how fast it passes and were reminded to use our own well.
If this all happened in mere minutes, imagine how much life you can live in a day.
All it took was one, brief glance. The ability to notice.
Learn to say: “Oh, wow! Look!”
It will completely change your life.
