At the neighborhood shopping center the other day, my reverie in my walk across the parking lot to Starbucks was rudely interrupted by someone laying on the horn. Cranking my head 90 degrees I could see that the horn honker was seeming perturbed by the SUV in front of them; it's pace was slow. What the horn honker did not see was that the SUV was going at a very slow pace to allow an elderly couple to cross in front so they could safely get to the grocery store.
So. . .do we really see what's in front of us. . .or do we only see what is blocking our vision of the future?
In reactive moments (and life is filled with reactive moments) we tend to access that which is only immediately available. We may be looking down a "clear road" devoid of obstacles, when suddenly something is plopped in front of us. No longer do we have a clear or a long vision - we become consumed by that which is seemingly blocking our progress.
If the "horn honker" in my story had not immediately reacted and perhaps had a little more patience, they could have easily looked around the SUV in front to understand that it was accommodating an elderly couple and providing safety. If the "horn honker" had taken a minute to think about possible options of why the SUV was impeding their progress - perhaps they would not have reacted in the manner in which they did. If the "horn honker" had more patience to wait for a clear view - the disruption could have been avoided.
Sometimes a little patience is a lot of great things. To have a long view - an accurate view of the future - really does not happen in the moment. It is not reactive. While recognizing that short term obstacles can sometimes obstruct our view - the long view recognizes that these are, in fact, only short term and it pays to keep focused on all of the great things ahead.
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