Have you ever had those moments when your heart smiles?  When you really can’t help it?  Over the summer, my husband and I were at a local baseball game and there is nothing that symbolizes momentum better than watching the “wave” circle around through the stands as the spectators join in and create their own fun, just by throwing their hands up in the air.  First, it starts small, almost trickling in parts, but then people catch on and jump right in.  Before I knew it, a huge smile appeared on my face as I anxiously waited for my turn to take part in this group “hug”.  I could actually feel the grin as my cheeks were raised in trying to reach higher on my face.  The human spirit is remarkable with what it can take and keep going.  It is getting caught up in a moment that will create a ripple that reaches out far past what we see and will leave its mark along everyone it meets along the way.  There are going to be times when it will catch you off guard and then there are going to be other moments when you start it.  Getting to play a small role as passion comes alive is contagious.  Plainly speaking, it taps into people’s emotions and gets them fired up.  They forget to think and just feel.  They let go of inhibitions and forget logic and reason.

Where do you find momentum?  How does it get started?  Who starts it?  Why did it start?  The best part about momentum is that no one can ever answer these questions easily.  Sure, we can point to the original spot of the wave and pick out who threw their hands up first, but that is not the point.  Momentum means movement.  It required action.  Just because you think something, doesn’t mean it will happen.  It doesn’t work that way.  That would be too easy.  And maybe a little more to do with “super powers” that none of us exist.  But we can make things move.  Not just with our hands.  Not with just something we touch.  Momentum is just so much more than that.

Is momentum something we only see?

The answer is simple.

The answer is “no.”

Imagine this…you are going through some of your clothes that you don’t wear and decide to give them to a local shelter.  You know it isn’t much, but something is better than nothing.  You find yourself thinking about some magical moments and some ordinary ones that you recall in those outfits and you know they will show up later in the form of pictures, if you are lucky.  And as you hope that the recipient of these outfits will be able to use them just as well as you do, you hand them off and go on your way.  A few days later, a woman expresses to an employee of the shelter that she had to pay a car repair bill that is going to set her back some.  In order to keep her job, she needs to have reliable transportation, like most of us.  But the stress of putting gas in her car, paying her bills, and being a responsible member of society carries some anxiety too.  How can she make it all work?  So as this woman sorts through the donated items, she happens to check one of the pockets…and finds $32.00.  Enough to put gas in her car until she gets her next paycheck.

Now, imagine that you are the woman at the shelter.  How would you feel?  Would you wonder what set all of that in motion?  If you trace the steps needed to be taken to make all the above happen, would you believe it?  Would you want to share this story with others?  Does sharing this create a different kind of momentum?  Yes.  It already has.  You see, this above story is true and was shared with me today and I felt compelled to share it with you.  The trickle effect of magic never dies.  It shows up ways that seem so randomly insignificant that connecting the dots is random it and of itself.

Did you feel that?  That connection.  That warmth in your heart.  That sense of feeling that you just touched someone’s life.  Someone that can never pay you back.  Forever connected.

One of my favorite quotes of all time is this one:

“You have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” – John Bunyan

So instead of asking the questions about momentum, let’s answer them.

Where do you find momentum?

Momentum is everywhere.  It exists even when we think there is nothing.  When there can’t be anything.

How does it get started?

It gets started with one. One step. One thought. One person standing up, throwing their hands in the air at a baseball game. ONE.

 Who starts it?

You and me.  The guy down the street.  The lady in the grocery store. The kid in Chemistry class.  The Olympic swimmer.  We all are the beginning, the middle, and the end of momentum.  Which means we can always begin again.

Why did it start?

Because we want something different.  We yearn for doing something.  We want to impact our world.  We have a passion for creating change.  Minimal as it may be, something is always better than nothing.

Some times, we are a part of things that we never saw coming that somehow just “happen.”  We can be the beginning, the middle or the end of something that may have begun long before us.  Our roles in the act of watching something evolve is magic and will always be something I love to see, no matter if I am a participant or an observer.  Ever watch someone create something from scratch and then admire them for having the courage to begin in the first place and just love to watch them as the momentum takes off?  How exciting is that?  Is there a “wave” you have always wanted to start but something stopped you?  Have you let logic and reason take over and never given imagination and possibility a chance?  I get it.  Believe me, I do.  I was there too.  I was there for a LONG time. But more often now I am doing something because I know I can help others.  I can choose how my day plays out by the actions I take and the words I use.

We can all be changed not just by the momentum we create and are a part of, but also by the momentum we see.  We are transformed by the ripple effects life shares with us as we meander through our daily tasks.  But little things an still create quite the stir in us and cause us to allow our hearts to breathe in the form of life. Isn’t it time that you throw your hands up and create a wave of your own? How about starting a surge, carried by your thoughts, and gifts that make everyone better?  It starts here. It starts with you.  And it starts today! 

Michelle A. Homme 2014 ©