I walked out of my chiropractor's office and sitting on my headlight was, what I thought was, a stick.
Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was actually a preying mantis. I had always heard that they were "good luck", and it was essentially that concept that made me take notice of him at all.
When I got extremely close to him, close enough for this picture, he simply turned his head toward me and tilted it about 45 degrees. I snapped this photo and I remember being just inexplicably fascinated by his presence.
The resulting impact of that moment has helped me through a devastating time in my life. I had absolutely no idea at that time, but I was NOWHERE near the bottom and I was about to fall a lot further. Yet I survived. Ultimately, I came through the events with flying colors.
Every single time I have something difficult or challenging I think of, what I refer to as, my "preying mantis moment".
It has become my way of "smelling the roses".
That moment has been, for me, a spectacular way of realizing that there's immeasurably more to this life than whatever happens to be going on in my personal world that day.
It has kept me, on more than one occasion, grounded and humbled.
Perhaps, more importantly, it comes to mind immediately when I find myself overwhelmed by my personal situation.
I don't go back to last year often in my head. There are very few things that I have been able to take away from that year as positives. My "preying mantis moment" is absolutely one of the high points.
So today I have chosen to take a moment to step outside of the fantastic momentum of 2012, to look back and show some gratitude for one of the tiny little miracles that has helped to shape my life.
That little guy came into, and out of, my life in a flash. Yet, he has had a profound impact.
When times are tough, everyone should have a preying mantis moment.
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