Driving down the Garden State Parkway, I'm on my way to my first solo vacay in New Jersey (oh stop snickering). Five days at my friend's glorious house while she's in Italy. Since my oldest son's birth 12 years ago, I've not been all alone for more than a day. I'm way overdue.
That's when I spot it. A rainbow. Wait... blue sky, no rain. What?! Obviously the other drivers haven't noticed the humdinger because they are not swerving and squealing like a nut-ball. I scramble for my camera like an electrified orangutan.
I pull over and whip out my camera so fast I nearly throw it across the dash. As I start shooting, the colors are faint but grow brighter before my wide-eyes. They trail along the clouds in glory. Mama Mia.
My car and I are drunk in delight, windswept and jostled by the other high-speeders zooming past me and the miracle. I'm still giggling and chatting out loud thanking the angels for the prism show. My breath is caught inside the glee. I'm not alone. Roy G. Biv has got every color on deck. For me.
After 20 minutes, I continue on my drive, dazzled. I spend five delirious days writing. Painting. Breathing in the green of the yard. The stillness of flowers. The pool's turquoise purr. Outside the rush of my daily life, I really like my own company. Maybe, after all these years, I actually love me. Whoa. The rainbow knew.
When I return home from my retreat, I feel alive. Free. I tell my family about the "fire rainbow" (I'd googled it). My son says he wishes he saw it, too. The universe is listening.
At his birthday party the following week, guess who arrives. Yup. I'd never seen a fire rainbow until a week earlier. Hovering above us, is another. No. Way. I start yelling to my son and pointing up like a crazed Chicken Little. Rainbows are falling around us.
A month later, we're at the Jersey shore. Yet another appears. Google informs me this one is a "sun dog." Whatever. It's still color streaking across my freakin blue skies. My dad tells me that when I was too young to write, I signed a guest book at a relative's house... with a rainbow. They've been on my radar awhile.
As a kid, I'd thought that rainbows would be even more awesome if there was a blue sky behind them instead of grey clouds. I'm not making this up. Then I saw it on Facebook -- a photo of a colorful ribbon shimmering across a wicked azure sky.
I figured I would have to be in Hawaii or Bali to see such grandeur.
Mais no.
They now follow me in Joisey. Several months ago, I step outside Barnes and Noble (a gospel belt) and glaring right at me is a huge glowing sun dog. I'm agog again. My eyes dart around the parking lot for someone to celebrate the sky with me. Three folks slip into their cars, engines roar away. I call out to one last woman, but she can't hear the happiness. Her head is bowed as she leaves, untouched by the hot diggity-dog before us.
Are you expecting your job to be stressful? No free time? Your partner to disappoint you? Your health to decline? Murphy's Law to win? Well when you look at it that way, your wishes are the universe's command.
There's an area of our brain called the reticular activating system (RAS) whose job is to filter through the endless data that bombards us daily. The RAS only allows into our conscious mind what we are focused on, interested in, or what we believe. It edits out anything that doesn't confirm our belief system (BS) which we may have been carrying around since childhood. Our mind is a neutral search engine, looking to prove us right about our expectations.
Ever bought a car you'd rarely seen, in a color you were sure was unique. Then you get out on the road and that exact car is everywhere. Turns out, that car had always been around you, but your RAS never picked up on it until it was a priority.
This isn't woo-woo. This is science.
Einstein said, "You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created." If we stay focused on what's wrong, the RAS is blind to anything right. What do you expect from the world and what do you offer? Give your dreams more airtime today. Your thoughts and feelings are so powerful that your life is created by their rally cry. Redemption is within your reach.
Just last month, I was rather stuck in the "not enoughness." Not enough wishes coming true. Not enough Money. Talent. Time. Courage. My life is full of great things, but I was busy focusing on what I feared was missing. So I rewrote my affirmations. I recommitted to reading them every day. Focus. Breathe. Believe. Receive.
Yesterday, driving to the shore, my family and I see a massive sun halo (a rainbow circle clear around the sun). There's a small pastel fire rainbow at its feet. Sweet Jesus. What promise lies about us. What mystery. I want to reaffirm my life with greater faith than ever. Do I face life's challenges like they are obstacles or opportunities? Sometimes I forget it's my choice. The skies remember. I got it all on camera.
There are fire rainbows afoot. Keep looking up!
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