We get to choose which stories we believe in, and act upon. We get to choose the stories we tell, the stories we listen to, and the stories that we take with ourselves, to hopefully change who we are to better influence ourselves and all those whom we meet.

One such story for me is the origin of the holiday, today: Miracle Monday, the third Monday in May. It’s one of my favorite holidays, in part because most people don’t know it exits. It’s from one of my favorite novels, by one of the writers who influences me the most, then, and still, and it features my favorite character of fiction (as well as the namesake for one of my closest friends).

It’s a holiday when humanity celebrates deliverance from a threat they didn’t even know – or remember – had been looming. And that may be what I like about it, most: the idea that there are heroes out there doing what they can to help others, to make our lives better, happier… and they are doing it, when we don’t even realize how much harder everything might have been without them.

And perhaps most importantly, it commemorates a day when Darkness was overcome; Goodness triumphed; and Miracles were made to happen because someone who believed it was possible willed them to happen. Even on the edge of defeat, there was the will to try, and the effort to do better. As Wayne Dyer says, “Miracles happen in moments. Be ready. Be willing.” My ideal version of Superman — and there are certainly plenty of lesser versions and visions — is of someone who never stops trying to help, never stops trying to overcome his own weaknesses, and always does everything he can to make things right when he fails. That’s an ideal worth emulating.

I think that might apply to all of us, in a way. We’re all trying, and doing the best we can with the information we have and the resources we can muster. And if we fail, we try again. And again. And again. If that isn’t a miracle, I don’t know what is. Happy Miracle Monday, everyone. 🙂