<photo: climbing in the dark, Mount Kinabalu>
the "aha!" moment is a "moment of sudden and great revelation or realization, inspiration, insight, recognition, or comprehension". we wait in anticipation for the "aha!" moments or epiphanies in our search for a purpose in life, a dream job or a perfect partner.
in the book "What Should I Do with My Life?" the author Po Bronson shares inspirational true stories of people who have found their answers to that difficult question.
he wrote that "Many people have this notion, or maybe it’s a hope, that their calling will just come to them one day, as an epiphany, and it’ll be clear. We wait for that clarity. When our notions are muddled or vague, we often don’t pursue them, assuming the lack of clarity is a sign it’s not our true course. If we really wanted to do a certain thing, the feeling would be strong, right?"
should we wait for the "aha!" moment to tell us what is our calling, our purpose in life, or what makes us happy?
Po Bronson gives us the answer - "Probably not. For most people I talked to, very little was clear when they began their journey. It had to unravel, slowly, over time."
"Do not wait for the clarity that comes with epiphanies. In the nine hundred plus stories I heard in my research, almost nobody was struck with an epiphany. It was one of my biggest surprises. Most people had a slim notion or a slight urge that they slowly nurtured until it grew into a faint hope which barely stayed alive for years until it could mature into a vision"
"I now tell people not to wait for epiphanies. They’re great if you get one, but so often they tell you something you already know in your heart. Never underestimate our ability to ignore the obvious. So often, that’s what keeps us from clarity - not a lack of desire."
there are no epiphanies when you climb mountains. it takes hours of training, endurance and often failures in order to finally reach the summit. there is no "aha!" moment when you stand on the peak. #bcc