Magical Odometer Moment

Research indicates that happiness and/or validation does NOT come from a single event.  Lottery winning, Oscar-winning, Rock Star moments all produce momentary “highs,” but do not move the happiness scale.  Nevertheless I—and others too?—have a penchant for wanting some singular event to establish one’s meaning, place in life, worthiness of love, all leading to a place of irrevocable happiness.

I flashed to a memory from about age 6.  We were in the car and my dad pointed to the odometer; it was very close to turning to all the same digits.  I think it was going to be 111111.1.  I remember the feeling of excitement; that I was going to be at a special place and time and I wanted to focus my attention on it, look at it as it happened, burn it in.

Then I got distracted by something, took my eye off the odometer, and by the time my attention returned, it was past. Something like 111111.3.  I felt oddly crushed, as though I had missed some great opportunity, some important juncture.  I remember trying to figure out how long it would take for all the numbers to line up again, despairing that I would ever have that opportunity again.

I have not yet caught one of those singular odometer moments and did not even note the relevance of 11.11.11 until after the fact; even then, I felt only the tiniest bit of regret that I did not set aside a small portion of that day to revel in its numerological significance.

~ A Bubba Guest Post

Photo source: Pixabay

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