Step Up
Dustin Hoffman is one of my all-time favorite actors. His career started back in 1961 and has continued to the present. He was born in 1937 and has starred in many critically acclaimed and commercially successful films throughout his brilliant career. His credits include the political thriller All the President’s Men as the journalist Carl Bernstein investigating the Watergate scandal to Kramer vs. Kramer, which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor back in 1979. Many of his iconic roles spanned the spectrum from dramatic to comedic.
In his magical role as Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, he stands in front of Natalie Portman and looks kindly and lovingly into her eyes. He has an impish smile on his face and he says: “You, my dear, are a special occasion. Rise to it!”
What if you decided to rise to the anticipation of creating an opening in your heart, so that you can receive the fullness and richness housed in each never-to-be-repeated moment?
What would happen if you accepted the challenge of being a special occasion? Would you become more intentional about what you say yes to and what you decide to eliminate from your overall plans for yourself?
Special occasions usually come packaged with favored rituals that reflect consistent values, adopted to preserve the sense of specialness surrounding the occasion. For example, you might choose how you stand, how you speak, and how you dress, so that each expression reflects the fact that whatever you are participating in is a special event.
Perhaps your emotional tone and vibration would lighten and brighten to reflect a sense of enthusiasm, appreciation, and expectant curiosity. You might cultivate a leaning toward anticipating enriching experiences, since special occasions, by design, often deliver special outcomes.
What if your approach to your life was fueled by the mantra: Rise to it!
What current situations are calling you to stand up, or take a stand? Are there old, worn-out, hard-luck stories that keep you stuck in a self-image that is too small to host the special occasion that you are longing to become?
What mental and emotional habits would need to be discarded so that your intellect’s passion and your heart’s intelligence can blossom into a wardrobe of primary colors?
Are you presently too beige? Are you lacking the spark that ignites the flame of inventive, creative, responsive and intentional living?
We each have a litany of holiday rituals that we hold on to as a way that we can house the presence of the sacred. By embracing the idea that you are a special occasion, you can sanctify your ordinary, daily actions with meaning.
Begin by creating personal rituals that reflect your highest and best Self. These intentional and highly personal rituals will act as seed crystals of new patterns, that will miraculously transform your life, one step at a time.
“You, my dear, are a special occasion. Rise to it.”
Susan has been writing and producing personal leadership seminars for over three decades. She is the author of Beyond Intellect: Journey into the Wisdom of Your Intuitive Mind. Connect with her at beyondintellect.com.
