WARNING:
Rambling ahead.
(But with a point that you’ll want to stick around for.)

So.

Yesterday,
I posted about the DMs in our lives.

DMs. Defining Moments.

Those events that come by in a BAM, *POOF*, or Whoooosh
and bop us upside the head with a GOTCHA!
(or sneak in to broadside us with a WHAH!).

And yes,
these babies completely change us.
(Nothing is the same as it was before.)

Well, there’s more.

On that single-page graphy-thing
(the timeline stretching ominously
from one side of the 8 1/2 x 11 to the other),
we also wrote in our Miracles.

Miracles.
Those wondrous events that also change us.
In a good way.
Forever.

(Miracles, by the way,
are way more well-behaved than the DMs.)

Miracles are first-class experiences
we wish would happen more to us.
(ALL the time. Yes. Please.)

Miracles are marvelous,
splendid,
breathtaking,
remarkable.

Miracles are significant,
noteworthy,
and awe-inspiring.

Each child’s birth is a Miracle.
Each marriage is a miracle (or should be, eh?).
Each friendship, each blessing, each award or accomplishment —

They’re all Miracles with a capital M.

(Your character is asking you right now,
Will you puhleez give me some Miracles?!)

Miracle moments.
Good stuff.

So, yeah, here’s the truth to ponder.

Sometimes (no, often times),
the Defining Moments outweigh (and even obliterate)
the Miracles.

Wait! Hold on!
DMs bullying in the Miracles?
(Mm. not. not. nice.)

You meant to tell me that
DMs tip the teeter-totter so that the Miracles are
hangin’ up in the sky with their feet dangling?

Nope.

I mean to tell you that
DMs frickin’ FLIP the teeter-totter
so that Miracles fall off.
(And run away crying.)
Big. Time. Bullying.
(Excuse the language, btw.
But this really gets me M.A.D.
Somebody stand up and shake a fist,
will yuh?!)

I want to yell, “HEY! Back OFF!”
These Miracles need to be front. and. center.
These Miracles need to be exposed
and magnified
and shown for what they really are.
Because we can’t let the nasty DMs win.
Nope. Uh-uh. No way.

Why not?
Why not just give in
when a Defining Moment punches you in the face?

Well.
Miracles really, truly, honestly
carry more power than DMs.
(W.A.Y. more power)
Hidden Power.

Superman-infused Power.
Hiding-in Hulk Power.
Grow-Beyond-Possibility Captain America Power.
(Superheroes rock.)

Think with me.

When it’s all said and done,
we learn with DMs.
We grow with DMs.
We become better people with DMs.
We can change direction, refocus, get on the trajectory.
Back on course for what really matters in this life.

Gah. I’m thinking about the DMs
and am angry again.

Because
how in this crazy world
do those pesky, prickly, panhandling DMs
take over the Miracles in our lives
so, so easily —
and run them off of the playgrounds of our minds
without even the slightest fight, on our part?

Why do we give up?

Maybe there have been too many fights, and we’re tired.
Maybe we’ve had a low blow, and it took the wind out.
(I get it. Been there. Done that. Too many times to count.)

For whatever reason, we forget the Miracles.
We let the DMs control and define us.
We “loose sight.”

Well, no matter.
Choice.
Choice exists.
When the Physical Strength has gone on the outside,
Spiritual Strength comes on the inside.
When the low blows seem to keep coming,
we pull from Power Beyond Ourselves.
(God. Is. There.)

But enough rant.

Writer:
Let your character
fall off the teeter-totter.

Then let him come back with inner strength that overcomes.
Let her choose to see the value in the Miracles.

Our readers draw hope from our characters’ hope.
When we put Miracles back in their right place
(both in our lives an on the page),
good things happen.

* Thup