Just minutes before I hit “publish” on my last blog entry, my close companion, Donna, sent me an email. After I published my “How Did We Get Here?” blog entry, I read her email. She had forwarded a message posted on her son’s facebook. The message was from his best friend Joey, whom she had run into the day before. Joey remarked how he had just had this life-changing conversation with her the day before, and how grateful he was to her. She said she had no idea what she said to him, but that they had talked about college and his struggles to stay on top of things. They talked about work. They talked about play. But, something she said had changed his whole perspective, and lifted him up enough to call it “life-changing.” I emailed her back: “You need to read my blog. You’re not gonna believe what I just posted.”

Do we let our epiphanies fade and become irrelevant? Or do we act on them? A “life-changing” epiphany is only “life-changing” if we change something about our lives as a result. When we stay stuck in our habits, stuck in our ways, and do not grow, there is nothing “life-changing” about it. We all struggle with something that keeps us from changing our lives for the better, be it a small or large change. Sometimes we need to be on the listening end of that one line someone says that makes something click for us. Sometimes that one thing is uplifting. Sometimes it is a reality check.

Regardless, we need those “a-ha” moments, and they can come from anyone, and can happen anytime, anywhere. I had an “a-ha” moment when I was a kid struggling to believe in Santa Claus. I woke up late one Christmas Eve, saw the presents under the tree, and stepped in a tiny pile of melting snow. The doubter in me believed once again, because there seemed no other plausible explanation for the snow on the rug if Santa hadn’t dragged it in on his boot. I had a reality check when I accidentally discovered some of our wrapped presents the following year.

I had a “life-changing a-ha” moment when I realized that as an adult, I was free to have my own relationship with God. I had a reality check when I realized that God answers all prayers, but not necessarily giving us the answer we want.

I had a “life-changing” moment when I realized that I am in charge of my own happiness, and that I could always expect to be disappointed if I made my happiness someone else’s responsibility. I had a reality check when I realized that feeling true happiness within requires a healthy self-esteem. A further reality check showed me that only I could build my self-esteem, and that needing to be stroked and affirmed by others only exhausts them, while giving me a temporary boost, like a candy bar when the mid-afternoon blood-sugar crashes.

What is it that keeps you just out of reach of being the person you want to be? Is it something you need to hear? Is it something you need to say to someone else? Or is it something you just need to say to yourself?  Don’t be aloof to others’ words, and don’t be nonchalant with the words you say. Instead, offer uplifting words, but speak truthfully. Don’t become everything you hear, but listen intently. You just might hear something between the lines.