We have had a few gorgeous days here recently and I took advantage of the beautiful weather by taking my dog, Bella, for a walk. We are blessed to live on over 300 acres of land and there is a perfect walking path weaved throughout the land. Unfortunately, as much as I love to walk my sweet puppy in this beautiful weather, I am utterly terrified of snakes, which has been known to undermine my walks from time to time.
Well not this time! I take off, but stare at nothing but the ground for an hour, scanning relentlessly for any sign of a snake. Later that evening when I tell my husband I went for a walk, he starts asking me questions…”Did you notice the berry bushes are starting to bloom a bit?”, Did you see where the storm took down that big tree?”, “Did you notice I cleared the path?” (or built a fence, or dug up some dirt, or whatever he does out there all day!). As I’m listening to him I’m thinking, Ummm,nope! This girl right here scanned for snakes the whole time and never once even looked up!
Our conversation got me thinking though...how many times are we so focused on something negative that we never look up to take in all the rest?
It’s amazing what gets magnified in your life when it’s all you are paying attention to. When we are so focused on the annoying habit of our spouse, an unattractive flaw in our friend, a frustrating mistake our kid continues to make, what could go wrong on our vacation, or even how much our job sucks, we close ourselves off to seeing all the other stuff, the good stuff. The stuff that not only makes my walk much better, but also make our relationships and jobs and life in general better. And if you look hard enough for anything, you’ll probably eventually find it...good AND bad.
So the next day I decided I could do one of two things with my new found epiphany. I could go for my walk continuing to scan for snakes and eventually I’d probably find one, or I could just look up. That choice made me a bit fearful but it was well worth it. The next day I not only saw the berry bushes and the downed tree and the cleared path, but I saw much more. I saw deer and a turkey (could have been a vulture, but I’m going with turkey). I saw Bella having the time of her life. I saw the most amazing blue sky that turned into a sunset I’ll never forget. I saw the bench where the former owner had made a memorial for all the dogs he had lost while living there. I heard more birds singing than I could even begin to count. I wish I could say I never once thought about the snakes but that would not be true. But I can say, I decided in that moment, to never be so focused so hard on one thing that I forget to look up. I hope you’ll look up from time to time too...you’d be surprised what you might see! xo
Well not this time! I take off, but stare at nothing but the ground for an hour, scanning relentlessly for any sign of a snake. Later that evening when I tell my husband I went for a walk, he starts asking me questions…”Did you notice the berry bushes are starting to bloom a bit?”, Did you see where the storm took down that big tree?”, “Did you notice I cleared the path?” (or built a fence, or dug up some dirt, or whatever he does out there all day!). As I’m listening to him I’m thinking, Ummm,nope! This girl right here scanned for snakes the whole time and never once even looked up!
Our conversation got me thinking though...how many times are we so focused on something negative that we never look up to take in all the rest?
It’s amazing what gets magnified in your life when it’s all you are paying attention to. When we are so focused on the annoying habit of our spouse, an unattractive flaw in our friend, a frustrating mistake our kid continues to make, what could go wrong on our vacation, or even how much our job sucks, we close ourselves off to seeing all the other stuff, the good stuff. The stuff that not only makes my walk much better, but also make our relationships and jobs and life in general better. And if you look hard enough for anything, you’ll probably eventually find it...good AND bad.
So the next day I decided I could do one of two things with my new found epiphany. I could go for my walk continuing to scan for snakes and eventually I’d probably find one, or I could just look up. That choice made me a bit fearful but it was well worth it. The next day I not only saw the berry bushes and the downed tree and the cleared path, but I saw much more. I saw deer and a turkey (could have been a vulture, but I’m going with turkey). I saw Bella having the time of her life. I saw the most amazing blue sky that turned into a sunset I’ll never forget. I saw the bench where the former owner had made a memorial for all the dogs he had lost while living there. I heard more birds singing than I could even begin to count. I wish I could say I never once thought about the snakes but that would not be true. But I can say, I decided in that moment, to never be so focused so hard on one thing that I forget to look up. I hope you’ll look up from time to time too...you’d be surprised what you might see! xo
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