{"id":901,"date":"2017-08-08T20:27:02","date_gmt":"2017-08-08T20:27:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/?p=901"},"modified":"2017-08-08T20:27:02","modified_gmt":"2017-08-08T20:27:02","slug":"unexpected-nature-lifes-big-moments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2017\/08\/unexpected-nature-lifes-big-moments.html","title":{"rendered":"The Unexpected Nature of Life\u2019s Big Moments"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"girl<\/a><\/p>\n

This past weekend, I attended a family wedding. A lot of time and money went into this event.\u00a0 It paid off.\u00a0 The ceremony and reception flowed flawlessly.\u00a0 It was a perfectly orchestrated event.<\/p>\n

We expend a lot of effort on events like these \u2013 weddings, graduations, baptisms, etc. \u00a0And that\u2019s all good.\u00a0 There is nothing wrong with a celebration.<\/p>\n

But so often we leave these events feeling a little hollow. I think we feel that way because we were hoping that the event would generate one of life\u2019s Big Moments.\u00a0 The problem is that you can\u2019t pay for Big Moments.\u00a0 You can\u2019t plan for them.\u00a0 They aren\u2019t the product of a catered functions or glamorous trips.<\/p>\n

Life\u2019s Big Moments happen unexpectedly. They come out of nowhere and catch you by surprise.\u00a0 They aren\u2019t something that you can create.<\/p>\n

For example, when my husband had surgery last summer, things did not go according to plan. While we were at the hospital, we didn\u2019t have time to process what was happening.\u00a0 All we could do was react to the situation as best as we could.\u00a0 But afterward, we had a very honest talk about the stress of the experience and how grateful we were for each other.\u00a0 That conversation was a Big Moment, and one that I will never forget.<\/p>\n

Last year, my daughter competed at a ballroom dance competition. She performed a waltz with her partner to a gorgeous, lilting piano piece.\u00a0 It was surprisingly magical.\u00a0 She looked so beautiful and elegant when she danced.\u00a0 The performance simply took my breath away.\u00a0 Another Big Moment.<\/p>\n

I wish we could pay for Big Moments. I wish that every penny spent on vacations, fancy dinners and outings yielded an appropriate number of Big Moments.\u00a0 Unfortunately, life doesn\u2019t work that way.\u00a0 Vacations are opportunities to relax and sight see.\u00a0 Dinners out are opportunities for good food and conversation.\u00a0 Nothing more.<\/p>\n

Big Moments occur when we least expect them to. They are moments when we experience unexpected beauty.\u00a0 They can happen when we have a candid conversation with someone in which we share our deepest feelings about how important they are to us.\u00a0 They can happen when we look at our spouse, child or friend, and realize how empty our lives would be without that person.<\/p>\n

Big Moments are the ones in which we feel so blessed to be alive at that very moment, that it is almost overwhelming. How can we mere humans possibly create such moments?\u00a0 We can\u2019t.\u00a0 They are gifts from God.<\/p>\n

So, spend your time and money to enjoy life, to celebrate important occasions, and to give yourself opportunities for rest and relaxation. But know that the Big Moments that we all seek are not something we can pay for or create.\u00a0 All we can do is to be exceedingly grateful when they occur.<\/p>\n

(Photo Courtesy of Pexels)<\/p>\n

My book, The Secrets to Success for the Working Mother<\/a>, is available on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback. \u00a0If you purchase a copy, please consider writing a review. \u00a0I would be delighted to hear your feedback!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This past weekend, I attended a family wedding. A lot of time and money went into this event.\u00a0 It paid off.\u00a0 The ceremony and reception flowed flawlessly.\u00a0 It was a perfectly orchestrated event. We expend a lot of effort on events like these \u2013 weddings, graduations, baptisms, etc. \u00a0And that\u2019s all good.\u00a0 There is nothing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":593,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[62],"class_list":["post-901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-moments"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Unexpected Nature of Life\u2019s Big Moments - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2017\/08\/unexpected-nature-lifes-big-moments.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Unexpected Nature of Life\u2019s Big Moments - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This past weekend, I attended a family wedding. A lot of time and money went into this event.\u00a0 It paid off.\u00a0 The ceremony and reception flowed flawlessly.\u00a0 It was a perfectly orchestrated event. We expend a lot of effort on events like these \u2013 weddings, graduations, baptisms, etc. \u00a0And that\u2019s all good.\u00a0 There is nothing…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2017\/08\/unexpected-nature-lifes-big-moments.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Your Morning Cup of Inspiration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-08-08T20:27:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/files\/2017\/08\/girl-jumping-A.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Meerabelle Dey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Unexpected Nature of Life\u2019s Big Moments - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2017\/08\/unexpected-nature-lifes-big-moments.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Unexpected Nature of Life\u2019s Big Moments - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration","og_description":"This past weekend, I attended a family wedding. A lot of time and money went into this event.\u00a0 It paid off.\u00a0 The ceremony and reception flowed flawlessly.\u00a0 It was a perfectly orchestrated event. We expend a lot of effort on events like these \u2013 weddings, graduations, baptisms, etc. \u00a0And that\u2019s all good.\u00a0 There is nothing…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2017\/08\/unexpected-nature-lifes-big-moments.html","og_site_name":"Your Morning Cup of Inspiration","article_published_time":"2017-08-08T20:27:02+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/files\/2017\/08\/girl-jumping-A.jpg"}],"author":"Meerabelle Dey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2017\/08\/unexpected-nature-lifes-big-moments.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2017\/08\/unexpected-nature-lifes-big-moments.html","name":"The Unexpected Nature of Life\u2019s Big Moments - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2017\/08\/unexpected-nature-lifes-big-moments.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2017\/08\/unexpected-nature-lifes-big-moments.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/files\/2017\/08\/girl-jumping-A.jpg","datePublished":"2017-08-08T20:27:02+00:00","dateModified":"2017-08-08T20:27:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/#\/schema\/person\/7250ab2fc75dd2e7e923fbec0fbb375c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2017\/08\/unexpected-nature-lifes-big-moments.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2017\/08\/unexpected-nature-lifes-big-moments.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2017\/08\/unexpected-nature-lifes-big-moments.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/files\/2017\/08\/girl-jumping-A.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/files\/2017\/08\/girl-jumping-A.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2017\/08\/unexpected-nature-lifes-big-moments.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Unexpected Nature of Life\u2019s Big Moments"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/","name":"Your Morning Cup of Inspiration","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Meerabelle Dey","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/#\/schema\/person\/7250ab2fc75dd2e7e923fbec0fbb375c","name":"Meerabelle Dey","description":"Meerabelle Dey has a B.A. in History and Religious Studies from the University of Toronto and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law. Much of her legal career has been spent dealing with issues affecting women, children and the poor. She has lived in the United States, Canada and the Middle East. Meerabelle now devotes her time to writing. Her mission is to use her writing to inspire others to achieve God\u2019s unique purpose for their life.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/author\/mdey"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/593"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=901"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":905,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901\/revisions\/905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}