Do You Believe in Magic?

I remember the day perfectly. I’m five years old, sitting with a group of kids on the gym floor, practically bouncing with excitement. Today is the day a magician is coming to our school! I watch in awe as the man makes blocks disappear and change colors. I giggle uncontrollably when he makes a dove appear, as if from no-where, and it flies around above us. I spend the whole time laughing and clapping, and while everyone around me is wondering what the trick or secret is behind these illusions, I simply don’t care. I don’t want to know the tricks aren’t real. I want to believe in the magic of it, and that’s exactly what I did. Later in life I was told that I was getting too old to believe in magic, but let me ask you something. Who decides when you’re too old to believe in something? Does imagination really have an age limit? I believe magic can be found at any age.

I think that somewhere deep down inside, everyone wants to believe in magic. And why wouldn’t they? It makes everything beautiful. I’m a senior in high school now, but I still find myself glancing at the sky on Christmas Eve, peering into the moonlight to catch a glimpse of Santa’s sleigh. Yes, it may sound silly, and I know I’ll never see the sleigh, but what’s the harm in hoping? Santa may not be real but the magic he represents is. Magic is the look on a child’s face when he wakes up early Christmas morning and looks under the tree to see all the gifts wrapped in brightly colored paper. Magic is the beautiful white snow falling from the sky outside, perfect for sledding, and the delicious hot cocoa you know is waiting for you inside. It is when the whole family gets together to share and celebrate. It’s simply beautiful.

But magic isn’t just during the holidays. Magic happens all around us in everyday situations. Isn’t it magic when a little boy takes his first steps or says his first words? What else could that be? What about the gorgeous sunset that always puts a smile on your face as you watch the oranges and pinks sink into the horizon? I believe that magic has a part in anything that causes a person to smile. It was magic when I played my first song on my guitar. Heck, it was magic when I finally got a guitar!

I believe that love is magic, perhaps the deepest kind of magic. Love is the kind of magic that lives and grows inside of us. That love can magically grow with each passing day and can give us that warm fuzzy feeling inside. Sometimes we even feel like our heart is about to burst. Magic gets me through the tough days and allows me to see the silver lining. It’s out there for everybody; I think people just need to learn how to see it. It isn’t always easy to see magic in certain situations, but I believe that if we learn to see the magic in life it can help to heal our hearts.

As I get older, I see more and more people that seem to have forgotten about magic, and I don’t understand how they could do that. I remember watching movies like “Aladdin” as a kid, and I think the magic is just as important to me now as it was back then. Why can’t I visit ‘a whole new world’, whether it’s through a book or just in my own imagination?

I really do believe that everyone wants to believe in magic, they just don’t know how or they were taught that magic is only for kids. If that were true I would be determined to act like a child for the rest of my life. I would never want to grow up. Magic isn’t just for kids chasing Santa Clause or waiting for the flowers to reappear in the magician’s hat. Magic is for everyone who has ever loved, smiled, or had a kind thought. That kind of magic stays with you forever. It becomes a part of who you are. I believe there is magic in everything God has given us. What do you believe?