The Most Powerful Moments in Life

"The most powerful moments of our lives happen when we string together the small flickers of light created by courage, compassion, and connection and see them shine in the darkness of our struggles."
―Brené Brown

Is every moment of a baby's experience a powerful moment?

We all have had powerful moments in our lives, and when we think about it, they may have been few and far between, or more common, yet most likely not all that frequent. It may depend on what we consider powerful moments.

The quote from Brene Brown is powerful in its own right and if we look a bit more deeply into the quote what do we see? That powerful moments can only be experienced in contrast to the darkness of our struggles? That we need to string together "small flickers of light" created by courage, compassion, and connection? yes, and, or ...

I like approaching this quote by being in the question about it, rather than trying to formulate set answers that may be limited in the full possibilities of understanding and experience.

By being in the question can it open up the meanings of this quote and open our minds to

possibilities of reflection on our own experience of powerful moments? when they happened? why? and what we may have learned from them about ourselves and others?

Sometimes the most powerful moments in our life, in retrospect, are challenging ones in which the "darkness of our struggles" are so deep that we cannot see any light. Loss of loved ones by death or divorce is an example. Other times the most powerful moments are ones of special events like births or our own personal breakthroughs, or moments of joy, transcendence, and light.

Courage
Acts of courage are powerful moments when they happen as well as when they become known and appreciated by others. Some examples are when lives are saved by heroic acts during disasters such as those seen in the current (2018) and past year (2017) of mass shootings, hurricanes, floods, fires, and earthquakes. It also takes courage to be strong in the "darkness of our struggles", individually and collectively, and focus on positive change and love in the midst of the darkness of chaos and fear.

Compassion 
Acts of compassion can be seen or experienced as powerful moments in life when they happen in our life or others, seen in movies, or even read in news or in books. Think of compassion towards others, individually and collectively, and what that means on many levels in the spirit of the quote below.

"Compassion involves allowing ourselves to be moved by suffering, and experiencing the motivation to help alleviate and prevent it. An act of compassion is defined by its helpfulness. Qualities of compassion are patience and wisdom; kindness and perseverance; warmth and resolve. It is often, though not inevitably, the key component in what manifests in the social context as altruism. Expression of compassion is prone to be hierarchical, paternalistic and controlling in responses.^[2] Difference between sympathy and compassion is that the former responds to suffering with sorrow and concern while the latter responds with warmth and care." - Wikipedia 

You are invited to live life on this
level, and create powerful moments within
your own life and your tribe. 

Connection 

Our connection with others and with the Divine Spirit are important as a foundation for powerful experiences and moments. It is through others that we connect with life in a deeper way, with love, sharing, compassion, communication. Mentors, gurus, and teachers can sometimes create the energy or space for us to have powerful moments.

If and when all three of the above qualities of courage, compassion, and connection happen and we "string them together", then they may truly "shine in the darkness of our troubles".

The more common powerful moments in life are births and deaths that affect us directly, rites of passage such as graduations, anniversaries, birthdays, moving to a new home, a new city, a new state, or a new country, falling in love, getting divorced, learning that you have a serious illness, being the victim of a crime, catching a large fish or the thrill of powerful moments in various sports or forms of entertainment.

For those on a spiritual path, seeking increased consciousness, awareness, mindfulness, and connection with the Divine Spirit and with others in love, peace, and gratitude are powerful moments that can occur in many obvious and subtle ways.

On the level of quantum physics, powerful moments are happening every nanosecond, including within us and around us. Let's celebrate life with this in mind and heart. Let's create, appreciate, and have gratitude for powerful moments with courage, compassion, and connection. Namaste.