I try to be as thankful as I can for the many relationships that I have – physical and virtual. Though the spheres are oh so different, the tangibility of their impact is sometimes just as similar.

The other day, I was frantically looking for a land document and I found some of my old notebooks and journals. Their pages were filled with my thoughts at the various stages of my life. They held a mixture of themes and bore an assortment of the naïve, irrational, altruistic, crazy and vulnerable details of my past and some of the dreams I had for my future. At that time, I had not stopped documenting my thoughts but the platform had changed. It was now warehoused in different formats on the various electronic devices that I owned. The thoughts of what I saw and read stayed with me and among other things; it spurred me to start a blog.

Then for what I chose to interpret as God-sent and not just coincidence, I happened to take part in a series of tasks organized by the leader of an online community.  I was required to execute a different set of tasks each day and revert with my findings. One of the days, I was expected to go through old emails from the list of online resources that  I was subscribed to. I may never be able to put into words or adequately capture what that experience taught me.

Just a few days into the New Year, I saw an online advert to be a part of a paid children’s empowerment program. I joined. My family and I have not stopped benefiting from the different materials embedded in that program. What a resource!

Summarily, I have attended a couple of physical workshops and online trainings. A few of them offered me instant illumination or the opportunity to unlearn and relearn. All these are super great; more importantly though are the beacons of light, like gems they drop into our hearts while engaging in such communities but more importantly when alone. What resources or minerals have we once mined or totally ignored? What has happened to all those things we jotted down as our hearts got excited and motivated? Which of the many calls to action have we actually heeded to?

 

My Challenge:

I challenge you and I to get some peace and quiet. Every once in a while, mute the voices, take a break from social media and even physical meetings. Ensure you seek the hidden treasures in those forgotten books, notepads, drafts, unread messages, unlistened audio messages, overlooked scripts, opened tabs and forgotten bookmarks on your personal computers. Do not do this once and revert to business as usual, but create a ‘Treasure Day’ say once in two weeks or every month at the least.

Here’s a toast to you, for I see a whirlwind of value in sight.