Micro-Epiphanies

The other day, I had a small but important realization.

Previously, I had thought to myself,

"I know I'm supposed to turn on my headlights, but why is this the case? I can see perfectly fine even without the extra lighting..."

I was lazily driving along that day, following another car as I exited the highway. I was gazing blankly at the car ahead of me, tail lights ablaze in red. As the car started braking, the glow intensified amidst the evening ambience. I was mesmerized by the crimson beams radiating from the vehicle, its rays augmented by the dullness of the atmosphere and the stigmatism of my eyes.

Having stared into the illumination for a good number of seconds, I suddenly came to my senses.

We turn on the headlights at dusk not for ourselves, but for others to see us more easily.

If this car's headlights had not been on, the tail lamps would not have been this bright. Had these lights been more subdued, they wouldn't have caught my attention nearly as much.

It was a tiny realization, but the micro-epiphany has stuck. The moment is still lucid in my mind, imbued with its animated glow.The realization has elevated itself into my awareness, and the thought is now firmly embedded into my consciousness.

When a realization becomes a part of our consciousness, it changes our decisions from then on. When our decisions change, it means that we ourselves have changed. I now know to turn on the headlights when the sun starts setting, so that I will be safer on the road. In this case, I changed for the better. But the opposite is just as possible.

It was a small, almost trivial realization. But it's the compilation of such small changes to our consciousness that make us who we are today.