We reach our milestones alone.
I was reminded of this as I watched Tom Hanks in The Terminal this weekend. It is a story about a man who travels to New York City. In the the airport he learns that his country is at war and has been taken over. Suddenly, he has no country. He is not allowed to leave the airport until this matter is resolved.
His mission in New York City is to get an autograph of a famous jazz musician. This was the wish of his recently deceased father. He is challenged to complete his task and we witness his brilliance for making lemonade out of lemons. In the end, when he finally meets the musician and gets the signature, he is sitting alone in the bar, listening to the music. He is speaking to no one and experiencing his own satisfaction of reaching his milestone. It’s a private moment.
When we make the phone call we do not want to make, arrive at a new place in our life’s journey or reach a goal that we have designed for ourselves, no one can experience that but us. Even if we are going to a celebration (perhaps a graduation or promotion party) to acknowledge the milestone or someone is in the other room that we can tell, we still have those moments of “Yes… Ahhh… I have arrived“. There is a oneness with the self. Completeness.
A milestone is personal. It is designed by us and for us. We get to better. We graduate from good.
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Ellen, great story to share! Experiencing that milestone is like feeding my soul…I love it…thanks for the reminder about how special it is to savor it!