I have a question for you – is there a difference between intentionally hitting your toes on the dinner table leg or your friend pushing you and then hitting your toes on the dinner table?

As it turns out, the later scenario is a lot more painful than the first one.

Psychologists have done numerous experiments and found out two things about pain:

1. It tends to decrease if our body expects it. For example, let’s say that you are running through a wood and are getting slapped by tree branches as you run. The first impulse of pain will be the strongest one, but then your body will adjust to it and the pain signals will decrease to the point where you no longer notice the branches slapping or scratching your skin.

2. It tends to escalate when we believe someone is hurting us on purpose. When we think that someone does something with the intention of hurting us, our pain signals shot through the roof each time we get hurt. We do not get accustomed or learn to ignore this kind of pain.

Just think of the times when you found yourself infuriated or heartbroken because you believed that another person has said or done something to hurt you on purpose (even when this was not true).

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It is funny how through reading inspirational stories we often make discoveries about ourselves. I mean we hear all the time about importance of following our heart and staying true to ourselves, but this advice often sounds too cliché to be taken seriously.

Recently I read a great story that made me look at the same concept from a different perspective.

It went like this:

“One day an old Emperor from the Far East gathered together all the young people in his kingdom and announced that one of them would be his Successor. He gave each of them one seed and asked them to go home, plant it, water it and come back the following year with what they had grown. The next Emperor would be chosen judged on the plant that they brought with them.

A year passed by and all the young people came back to the palace with beautiful plants and flowers, except for one little boy. He was standing at the back with an empty pot, his head low. Some of his friends openly mocked him, a few felt sorry for the poor guy. But everyone was hoping that his plant would catch the Emperor’s eye.

Finally the Emperor arrived. He scanned the room, congratulated everyone on the beautiful and exotic flowers that they had grown, when he suddenly spotted the boy with the empty pot. He walked up to the boy, took his hand and declared “Behold your new emperor!”

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Ok, I admit. This is not something I read in the Europe’s Journal of Psychology. Nor has it been proven by any scientific research or backed up by a team of well-known psychology experts.

What I am about to share with you is my own theory that was inspired and conceived during my last 9-hour flight from Italy to New York.

My argument and my conclusion is that the older we get, the more stubbornly we ignore everyday miracles that surround us.

Let’s take flying for example…

Can you remember your first trip on a plane? How did you feel, looking out of the window and watching how a huge airplane picks up speed and slowly takes off the ground, leaving behind the roof tops, long streamers of roads and the perfectly delineated squares of green and yellow fields.

I observed people around me today and all I saw was mild boredom and slight frustration about the plane being 45 minutes late. When did flying become just a convenient vehicle that allows us to get from point A to point B? Isn’t it a miracle that we are able to surmount the force of gravity and rise above the clouds?

When I was little I was practically glued to the window the whole time the plane flew, imagining that this is how the God sees the Earth. I felt powerful. I still do, when I distract myself from voracious “What time will they serve lunch?” thoughts and take a moment to glance out of the window on the frothy, ever-changing sea of white clouds floating below.

Now, getting back to my theory about us losing our ability to get amazed at little things…

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