Read time: 3 minutes
The
change in seasons brings allergies, colds, and that frustrating nasal drip
cough. Not wet, so you think you can clear something out of your throat, but
that dry cough that feels like you are rubbing sandpaper on your vocal
cords. Like many people, I turn to something tiny yet powerful. Small but
mighty! The magic of a cough drop.
After
coughing throughout my morning run, and then still after a warm shower, I dug
into my drawer of medicine (which doesn’t contain much more than outdated
Ibuprofen, some old antibiotics from when I had oral surgery, and cough drops).
I grabbed a couple to make sure I had a spare in my pocket if I coughed up a
lung during a meeting with students. Dissecting a vomited lung might be an
intriguing and entertaining Anatomy and Physiology Lab for my students;
however, it would not be so much fun for the professor teaching the course that
coughed up the aforementioned lung. Mainly me!
Away,
I went ready to start my day with two cough drops in my pocket. I got a few
hours into emails, coughed a few times, and decided to reach into my two-drop
arsenal to rid the pesky tickle in my pharynx (throat) before my first meeting.
When I looked down at the small candy-like hard food wrapped gently in white
paper with black and yellow lettering, a phrase was written on the paper. It
was lying dead center in my frozen right palm.
I don’t know exactly how long I
sat there staring at the cough drop, the letters, words, and the entire phrase,
but it struck me that I could take a MOMENT and learn something. What was on
this small wonder of human medicine, you ask?
Simply this, “Don’t waste a
precious minute.” After the words settled into my mind and body, I opened
up the wrapper and placed the cough drop in my mouth. I then consciously took
the time that the wrapper demanded me to appreciate the sweet taste, the
soothing feeling in my mouth and throat, and the peace in my mind and body.
From
there, I walked to my computer and began typing this blog. You see, it was not
just the profound nature of the writing to “not waste time” in our lives. For
that is vital in life, and we can address that in other blogs and on the Act To
Live Podcast.
Instead, it was the fact that learning comes in different
forms and when we least expect it. Inspiration is like that too. We just need
to open our eyes and notice our environment a little more. If we do that,
opportunities of learning and inspiration can emerge from events, objects, and
people surrounding us.
What
will inspire you next? What will you learn if you just pause long enough to
notice things around you? How will you be moved by the simplest of
events? How can you move others in simple ways?
With
compassion, kindness, and appreciation,
~ Scott Palasik
©Photo by dlerick from Getty Images Signature via Canva.com