Don’t Stop Believing In Magic

I always liked magic, something about it enthralled me. Maybe it was the theatrics that would entertain me or the perfectly skilled illusion that would leave me completely awestruck, but what fascinated me most was the element of surprise. I relished the sense of wonder magic commanded. Of all the things magic bought with it- wonder, surprise, mystery – what stuck with me was the epiphany that things are not always as they seem.  

Then we grew up. And as we did science, logic and reason replaced wonder, joy and awe. Magic stopped being about the child like enthusiasm and wide eyed amazement and instead, became about the urge to explain and understand it. Somewhere between dismantling and decimating these tricks we stopped believing in the beauty of magic. We shut off the part of our brain that was privy to wonder and with it surrendered the will to be amazed.

We stopped believing in wonderful things that could amaze us and, in doing so, we stopped believing in magic.

But outside the illusions and play of smoke and mirrors is another kind of magic, magic that cannot be broken down into logic and reason. Magic that is rare enough to maintain its allure but not so rare as to question its manifestation. Magic that is unique to every magician thus never losing its charm. Magic that makes you and me the magician.

This magic is a moment of alchemy, a transformation that changes how you see your life so far. It makes your heartbreak vanish, leaving in its stead a stronger heart and a calmer mind. It replaces your moments of weakness with reasons for your strength. It shows you how your lowest lows have now levitated you to new heights.

It alters the situations that shook your foundation into the reasons why you are now grounded and steadier than ever. The illusion clears up as the times that threatened to break you apart becomes the times that taught you to put yourself together. Your mistakes become your teachers and your bad choices become good lessons. Every lost opportunity, every heartbreak, every sorrow and every struggle lead you down the road that only you can call your own taking you where you need to be, teaching you lessons you need to learn.

Every decision you made wondering if it was right, every choice you made only to wish you had made another, every doubt, every question and every thought that kept you awake is finally answered as you look back at the path you walked and realize it all happened for a reason. You look back and see that your life has transformed, every moment morphing into something you could never imagine. Something that reminds you that things aren’t always what they seem.

And this, your moment of alchemy, like pure magic transforms the less than noble moments of your life into the gold that you are grateful for. It is the moment that you look back at your life and say the magic words ‘everything happened for a reason, a good reason’.

I do not know the secret to this magic trick, after all it is as unique as the magician who performs it. I do not know when you will witness your moment of alchemy, after all your path is one only you have walked.

All I know is this: you have to move. Your moment of Alchemy may be a long way away or it may be just around the corner. It may be during a conversation you have with a dear friend over coffee or while you stand by the window nursing a glass of whisky. It may be when you are with the people you love or when you are alone enjoying solitude. However it may present itself to you, in whatever shape or form, it is a moment you need to reach out to.

So move. If you can’t run to it, walk. If you can’t walk to it, crawl. And if you can’t crawl then drag yourself by the will of your soul and the grit of your heart, but move. Move because the world doesn’t stop. Move because staying stuck is not an option, move so you can get where you need to be. Move so you can witness your moment of alchemy. Move so that you can be the magician. Move so you can, once again, believe in magic.