searching for epiphanies

you might consider this a follow-up to imperceptible and incremental . . .  the concepts are connected in my mind, at least, and hopefully by the end of this, yours as well.

I love a challenge.  I love to stretch and grow and push just a little bit further than I've been before.  I like to learn new things.  I love to incorporate new knowledge, to take it in, absorb it, make it a part of who I am, adjusting myself just a little bit with that process.  this applies to Big Things like taking a class or taking on a new project I've never before done, and Little Things, like learning a new fact about an old friend, or looking up a word in the dictionary to find it has a meaning different from what I knew.
even this morning, watching the sky change from dawn to daylight, seeing a few pink clouds high up in a sky of blue with fluffy white clouds, changed me.  I now hold a new vision, a new memory of sunrise, in my mind, which forever adjusts the me I was before that sunrise.
it's possible to walk through the world without paying attention.  but life is ever so much better when you learn how to be aware.
of yourself, of others, of the environment surrounding you.  of sunrises and breezes and critters that scamper through shrubs.  of what other people say and do.
maybe not of the media.
aware of your body and how it functions, when it feels best and worst, and how it's different when you stretch it, gently.

and here's the tie-in to imperceptible and incremental:  being aware brings you subtle gifts.  rarely do we receive Lightning Bolt Thoughts or Observations;  more often it's a small understanding or recognition that clicks or simply brings a smile to your face.

I've spent plenty time searching for epiphanies.  I want the next "ah-ha" or a Lightning Bold Realization.  I want to cry Eureka! or discover something never before understood.  (especially when it's time to write a new blog post . . . after writing 982 posts on this site I beg the universe for new, creative, enlightening thoughts to share with you all.)
and this is what I've learned:  epiphanies do happen, but not on my schedule.  they come when they come, and my job is to be open to listening, observing, and absorbing the message.  they often come in little teeny things, and only occasionally in anything large.  sometimes I have to dig for them, and separate the epiphany from the chaff.
and just like the imperceptible, incremental change that moves us forward, these small, seemingly insignificant little awarenesses do the same.  with each new awareness we shift and grow, moving further along our path.

you can live your life planted firmly in what you know and what's comfortable.  you can refuse to accept new information, you can stay exactly where you are forever;  this is a choice that is yours alone.

but if you decide you want to step forward, to see what might happen with a little bit of change, the world will open itself up for you.  it's when you decide to become more aware that you fall in love with what's truly available for you.  it will teach you patience, though, because there are few Lightening Bolt  Thoughts along the way.  more often you get pink-tinged clouds and solitary dragonflies, the occasional iridescent-winged hummingbird.
but stick with it.  it's worth it.  because when you add up each little piece, each cloud and bird and owl and smile and hug and intimate conversation, you suddenly have a world of delight.
one crescent moon at a time, you will imperceptibly and incrementally move toward what, in hindsight, will be the greatest epiphany of your life.