Stay Focused

Have you ever been so focused on getting someplace that you missed key landmarks along the way? Ever get into such a pattern of doing things that you miss major pitfalls because your attention was somewhere else?

Let me describe something I recently experienced:
It was a rainy day and for some reason I decided to park my car and walk inside the school to pick up my son instead of driving through the car line. The school’s visitor parking lot is located on a slope and since it was a rainy day, water rushed downward as I walked downhill. I walked quickly, stretching my legs over puddles, scooting around front ends of cars that had pulled in too close to the building, squeezing between a heating unit and a car until BAM! I walked right into a protruding metal box of some sort—I’m assuming it was an electric meter—headfirst. You know how cartoon characters get whacked over the head, then see stars and little birds circle around their head before they stagger and hit the ground?

OMG! That was me!

I stopped, looked at the meter and continued walking, ahem, staggering toward the school door. I was in a lot of pain, a bit disillusioned AND I hoped no one saw me.

When my son came out of the building and we took the same route back to the car, I told him what had happened and he laughed at me. I laughed too, although my head hurt, I still felt a little dizzy and most of all, my pride was bruised.

So, what am I getting at and what is the purpose of this post? Well, I’m glad you asked, and the answer is simple. Whatever your goal is, focus on the journey, not the individual steps it takes to get there. The steps are a means to an end. Looking ahead and plowing through the steps it takes to get there is part of the journey.

I’m sharing this story to remind you to:

1. Stay focused on what’s up, not down.
2. Focus on where you are going. I put so much energy into not getting my feet wet, I missed seeing something in front of me that really needed my attention. If I were looking where I was going, I would’ve known to slow down and duck–then my journey would’ve been completed, pain free.

So, stay focused. The journey can be painful, it can be long, it can get messy at times, but don’t stop.

DGR