"Hey... Someone Stole My Magic! But I intend to Get it Back!"

It happened at 8.07pm. Holding my partner in my arms, I gazed into the yellow-orange flame as it sank behind the hills. But this article isn't about the magic of a sun-set or the magical feeling of romance. It's about something even more special than both.

At 8.07pm I realised something. It was a profound realisation: a profound thought that tripped into a profound observation.

What made the observation so profound is the fact that I was thirty-seven years old and had never thought this way before. In truth I couldn't help a chuckle of irony - the irony that in all my life, I had never felt such a compelling desire, as the one that flowed through my veins.

The desire... the profound realisation... the thought I had... came as a simple sentence. It flashed and vanished in an instant. But that flash, that puff of magic, that spark of inspiration sweeping through, changed my life forever.

The sentence was this: 'I want to be a part of all this.'

Short, sweet, simple words, made all the sweeter by the feeling that something magical had just taken place.

Thinking about it all later it occurred to me that amongst all the goings on: the in and out of relationships, moving homes, changing jobs... the good and bad of health and all the ups and downs, pushes and shoves, we never seem to capture and adore the wonder and magnificence around us.

Rain falls. Vegetation grows. A tree will sprout a leaf - a leaf that, with the help of the sun creates the oxygen I need to breath. And how often do I forget to appreciate these moments of breathing? And if I forget to appreciate something so simple then how many other things do I overlook?

But I never forget to pour out an endless stream of "must-haves" into the universe. I am constantly saying I'm looking for a new client, or I'd like a new car or a publisher to pay me vast amounts of royalties.

How wrong. How selfish. How disrespectful.

It is too much to comprehend the infinite intelligence that surrounds me. But the truth is I fail to acknowledge this magic. And if I fail to acknowledge this, then perhaps I need to understand why.

Maybe it was the way I was brought up. Maybe it's the way society wants everything, but doesn't have time for anything. Maybe I should blame my education, my peers, the politicians or you. Then again, maybe I shouldn't blame anyone or even to seek to justify.

You see, the magic was always there. The hills by my home have been here since time began. And the sun that rises and falls over them does so with such fascinating precision that it blows my mind. Love has always been and always will be. My home has been in place for over forty years. All that changed was one simple thing...

That simple thing that changed was this: I arrived and refound my magic, magic that boils down to one thing: my ability to observe the great things that were always there, but that I took for granted.

It is the moments when we allow our awareness to expand into what already is, that we become truly alive. Truly willing to be part of everything that already is.