Living a Miraculous Life

Today’s guest writer is Leah Carey of The Miracle Journal. She is someone who, no matter how insignificant the contact (e.g., comment of a Facebook post), she makes you feel happy. It’s nothing directed at the person coming in contact with her, but rather her over-abundant amount of grace, inner peace, and happiness. It’s not a surprise I feel this when I read her words too.

Leah shared the story of how The Miracle Journal began and the secret to how anyone who chooses can live a miraculous life. After you have read this, please visit her blog, follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Studio30 Plus. I recommend following her on all of these accounts because every small interaction with Leah is guaranteed to put a little happiness in your heart.

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When I awoke on the morning of January 1, 2011, I didn’t expect anything special from the day.

I didn’t have anything special planned.  I was single, so I was left completely to my own devices.

Because I’m just a tad compulsive, I got up that morning and started working right away.

At the time, I was working as a freelance website designer out of my apartment.  I didn’t enjoy the work and I was getting increasingly lonely from being by myself all day every day. But I was stuck in a state of inertia and I had no idea how to get out.

One of the first things I did that morning was open my Google calendar to look at what was coming up in the next few weeks.

OH NO!  I had told two separate organizations that I would speak to them on the same night in mid-January! I was usually so careful about my schedule!  How could I do this?!?  I didn’t want to cancel either of them.

But it was New Year’s Day.  All I could do was let it be and deal with it later in the week.

A couple hours later I received an email from one of those organizations saying – get this! – “We made a scheduling error when we booked you.  We’re so sorry for the inconvenience, would you be willing to speak at next month’s meeting instead?”

I practically jumped out of my skin when I read that!  I was so giddy about it that I clicked right over to Facebook and told my friends, “The first miracle of the year just occurred!”  Not being a big Facebook user, I was amazed at the volume and swiftness of the response.

On January 2, 2011, I received two completely unexpected speaking engagement requests.  I clicked over to Facebook and posted, “The second miracle of the year has just happened!”

This happened every day for a week.  Literally, EVERY DAY there was something truly remarkable that happened, so every day I went back to Facebook and told my friends.  Every day, I was surprised at the positive response.

After a week I realized that I should be keeping a more serious chronicle of what was going on.  Facebook is fine, but it’s pretty ephemeral – it’s not a great place to keep a lasting record.  So I decided to start a “miracle journal” that I could write in each day. My Facebook friends asked me if I would make it public.  At first I thought not – what if a miracle happened that was too personal to share?  But as I considered it, I decided that was exactly the kind of thing I wanted to share.

I created The Miracle Journal, a place where I can write about the large and small miracles that happen EVERY DAY.

Some of them are huge – a few weeks ago I won a contest that will allow me to go to a major industry conference for free!  Some of them are tiny – the night I spent laughing and dancing around the living room with some friends in Canada.  No matter how large or small, they’ve each made my life an infinitely more enjoyable place to live.

What I realize now is that these things have ALWAYS been happening in my life.  I just never slowed down enough to recognize them as the miracles they truly were.  I might have taken two seconds to say, “Oh, isn’t that nice?” and then I was on to the next thing.  But taking the time to reflect each day on these miracles has transformed my life completely.

I no longer work as an unhappy website designer.  I now have a full-time job as a journalist – I get paid to do what I love!

I’ve completely turned around my financial situation, going from soul-sucking stress to finally feeling like I’m in control of my money, rather than it being in control of me.

I fully opened my heart to love for the first time…and then I learned that I could survive heartbreak.

I have developed new friendships and deepened existing relationships in a way that makes my life richer and more meaningful.

I’ve learned that even the hard days can be miraculous.

I awoke on January 1, 2011 thinking it was just any ordinary day.  Little did I know that by the end of that day I would have begun the most important journey of my life thus far.

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Leah Carey is the Chief Miracle Officer at The Miracle Journal, where she writes about her daily miracles and invites readers to share their miracles as well.  She also works as a journalist for a daily newspaper and a freelance writer.  Mostly she’s just happy to be living a miraculous life.

If you’d like to learn more about living a miraculous life, subscribe to Leah’s weekly newsletter, Juicy Tips For Miraculous Living.  She’s planning to publish a Miracle Journal book later this year.