The man that owns the van and I have never met. I suppose the most relevant question to that would then be, how exactly could someone that I have never met have saved my life? Well, that my friends is just magic.
So a magical rainbow van containing an unidentified man saved my life. If that isn’t ridiculous enough for you, what if I told you this has happened multiple times? We will start with the magical piece of this. At some point, life stops feeling magical. The every day little pieces of our routines became too ordinary to satisfy us. Every day consists of fulfilling ones duties, and that’s just how it. It’s a mindset we all know too well.
The problem is when you stop being getting excited about being alive, you start to let your life slip through your fingers. You blink, and things are over.
You lose the moments and experiences that you never reveled in fully and effusively. You lose life. That is why a rainbow van has the power to save it.
Every day I commute an hour to work. I take the same route and only change roads twice the entire trip. This past summer, I was driving to work as usual and I passed a large rainbow spray painted van in the other lane of oncoming traffic. In the van was a man that closely resembled Hagrid from the Harry Potter books. He was a large man and was rocking a massive fluffy beard and hairdo. I saw this random image for a few seconds and couldn’t control an outburst of laughter. What a freaking cool van. Then, a few days later, I saw him again. Then, a few weeks later, I saw him again.
The rainbow van would pop up every once in awhile and each time I grew progressively excited about it. I started beeping at him repetitively, and that has been my response to seeing him for about a year now. I don’t think he’s every actually noticed this either. I told most of my friends and co-workers about the van. I’d come in to the office chock-full of excitement and announce that I had seen the good-luck van that day and we would laugh about it together. How magical is that? This man happens to come in to town for work and sometimes passes me, has no idea who I am, and yet has been inspiring happiness for me for an entire year.
The van man isn’t the only hero in this story. There’s also the office janitor that has never once failed to exclaim “Happy Monday!” or “Happy Friday!” at the beginning of every interaction we have ever had with one another. Also, when they have blueberry bagels in the cafeteria. Or when my roommate and I discover that there’s a Law and Order SVU marathon on TV when it’s a rainy day. There’s also the cup of coffee at the exact moment I need it most, when I can sink into its warm fresh smell. They save me, and they can save you too.
Life is magical. Life is invigorating. Your life will only be the product of your ability to love it.
Many of us have lost the magic in living. That’s just like dying, if you ask me. You have to actively try to revel in the beauty of being alive. Take a second look into the eyes of a child and the way they light up when they see you. Go outside and close your eyes. Feel the sun sink into your skin, and feel the air fill your body with fresh fulfillment. Rejoice in the fact that you can order a ton of pizza whenever you want. Love your job or leave it. Jam out in your car like you’re a total rock star. Get super involved in the book you’re reading or new work out class you just started trying. Play with your dog. Stop and grab yourself a frosty because you’re feeling kind of down. Hell, stop and grab your friends or family some surprise frosties too. They’re a dollar for god’s sake; you can save a day with a dollar. Get excited about a stupid TV show. Call your best friend to tell them the funny thing that happened at Wal-Mart that day. Kiss the person that you love. I mean take a moment to really kiss them. Hold them closely and admire them. Press against their lips with the same heart wrenching emotion that you would have if it were the first kiss you shared. It takes a few seconds, and saves your life.
Get excited about being alive. Let the little moments with the people you love, friendly encounters with strangers, and abstract comedic occurrences of your day make you genuinely happy. When someone asks you about your day, you should be able to tell a story. A great story; one that is riveting and adventurous, where a person who you’ve never met saved your life, a story like mine.
Rejoice in the ordinary moments of your day. Let rainbow vans and kisses save your life. Don’t let the world trick you into thinking you need anything more than the correct state of mind to be happy. Let every day be magical and extraordinary because you chose to make it that way. After all, if you break down the word extraordinary, it really is just extra ordinary.