Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Lightning In A Bottle (MY Eng #39)

This is part of a running series about English idioms - less about language, more about life itself. Previously, we covered 'missing the woods for the trees', 'the elephant in the room', 'practising what you preach', blowing hot and cold', 'no smoke without fire', 'one swallow does not make a summer', 'apples and oranges', 'cut to the chase', 'leave no stone unturned', 'that's the way the cookie crumbles', 'can't have your cake and eat it too', 'old is gold', 'putting the cart before the horse', 'mountain out of a molehill', 'pot calling the kettle black', 'bite the bullet', 'go the extra mile', 'silence is golden', 'the devil is in the details', 'sink or swim', 'once bitten twice shy', 'don't count your chickens before they hatch', 'don't put all your eggs into one basket', 'chicken and egg', 'walking on eggshells', 'flogging a dead horse', 'better late than never', 'storm in a teacup', 'between a rock and a hard place', 'darkest before dawn', 'empty vessels make the most noise', 'birds of a feather flock together', 'separate the wheat from the chaff', 'let sleeping dogs lies', 'open a can of worms', 'light at the end of the tunnel', 'trial and error' and 'look before you leap'.

Each passing day, we fervently hope against hope for a miracle to happen.

Days left to meet an unrealistic project deadline. A whole week packed with assignments and tests. There's no end to problems that can only be solved by a stroke of good fortune.

Yet, sometimes things just click together. An unexpected offer of help by a good Samaritan. A sudden surge of inspiration that cuts through your knotty predicaments. Almost as if there's someone up in the skies above that really like you...

* * *

Behold the awesome power! A divine intervention! Magic! Sometimes, we're lucky enough to catch a lightning in a bottle.

Once you've captured that bolt of energy, be sure to keep the bottle lid well-sealed. Lightning doesn't strike twice (another idiom!). Cherish your treasure. Don't let a once-in-a-million opportunity go to waste.

Yet, we often take our gifts for granted. We don't appreciate enough the charity of others. We assume that we're entitled for many more rewards to come.

Thus, a blessing can quickly turn into a curse. Complacency sets in. The true worth of our own abilities becomes inflated. We rest on laurels (another idiom!).

* * *

When lightning strikes, that's when we need to go hunting for more electricity. Step into the eye of the thunderstorm. Don't be afraid of getting your feet wet.

For no matter how solid the glass walls are made of, lightnings can't zap on forever. Fortune is fleeting. A lightning is merely a spark of catalyst.

It's not every day that we're lucky enough to catch a lightning in a bottle. But once we do, it's up to us to channel our own inner energies to keep the fire burning.

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