The other night I was invited to a scavenger hunt for a friend’s birthday. It was St. Patrick’s Day as well, so the town was a-bustle with merry-making and revelry. The invitation for the scavenger hunt invoked a notion of rushing around town, in and out of bars and establishments that seemed likely to be a chaotic endeavor. My wife, nine months pregnant, is to the point of getting out of breath walking back upstairs with the laundry much less bar-hopping. For my part, at the end of a long week a big Friday night these days consists of staying up past nine and maybe some mint-chocolate-chip ice cream. Suffice to say, we felt uninspired.
Still, we wanted to be there for our friend, so we showed up thinking we’d at least make a quick appearance and be part of the send-off. In the process, we learned the history of this tradition. It had begun with his parents and had gone on for many years, passed down now and honored in his own life. That context made if feel bigger, alive, rich with a backdrop of excitement. We decided to give it a go, despite our exhaustion and it already being bedtime.
We broke into teams and were given a list of obscure tasks to accomplish, photos to take, items to gather and challenges to seek. The mission was to be limited to an hour and a half. With that, we set off into the St. Paddy’s night air in a flurry. We searched madly for everything from green condoms to dog poop, taking photos with random strangers, seeking out a means of getting handcuffed by a police officer, running around madly in a roundabout, taking selfies in a bar bathroom with seven grown men in kilts and green hats – and many more zany tasks. The exhaustion was gone in the first few minutes, replaced with exhilaration and a sense of adventure. I was reminded of my goofy teenage years. There was laughter and silliness and teamwork and confusion. We entertained ourselves and strangers, spread our joy like a contagion to folks along the way. With minutes to spare, we reported back to base for the judging – and to share stories of hilarity with all the other participants. Smiles all around, it was a room filled with joy and simple fun. Though we went home at the end of the night well past our bedtime, once again exhausted – It was Bigness and we were grateful we’d said yes to it.
Often in life, it’s easier to say no. We’re tired. It’s been a long week. It’s too late at night. It’s too late in our career. It’s too late to start over. It’s too much work or too much energy or the timing just isn’t right. When we say “yes” though, that’s when Bigness reveals itself. It can be discouraging to think of how long it might take to become really talented at the guitar, so we put it off until there’s more time. But if we pick up the guitar and just strum for a while, Bigness visits us right in that moment and we find ourselves on the road to becoming really talented with it – right now. It can feel overwhelming to consider how long it would take to write that book, so we dream about ‘someday’ and working at it in retirement. But if we sit down and write a few pages, we feel the Bigness rising within us and we realize we’re writing that book….RIGHT NOW.
Keep yourself open to the Bigness in your life and in you – and remember to say Yes.
~KG@GWB~