The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Point To Ponder:
Do you get so involved with the details of life that you lose sight of the big and important picture?

Action Item:
Pursue your goals, dreams and life with laser sharp focus while always appreciating the common miracles and blessings that continually surround you.

by Neissa Springmann

This summer, while in Asheville for our Monarch Escape, one of the many things I enjoyed was taking pictures of the beautiful surroundings. Photography is a hobby of mine and while I certainly could benefit from professional coaching, I delight in taking pictures and especially love the thrill of reminiscing through my photos.

Not long ago while looking through my Asheville album, I was completely taken aback by something that I not only failed to see while taking the picture, but also didn’t notice the many times I previewed the photo before. In the picture above, I was desperately trying to focus on a stunning turquoise dragonfly. At the time, I thought my camera was experiencing difficulty because of the dragonfly’s translucent and delicate body, but after review, that could not have been further from the truth. The reason my camera was unable to focus on the dragonfly was because it was focused on the snake, slithering behind it, that I never even saw!!

After the initial shock and sheer fascination of the snake in the picture, my next and immediate thought was how this was the perfect parallel to what we, especially me, can do with life.  Very often, I get tunnel vision and become hyper-focused on accomplishing one thing that I miss out on all of the other possibilities. A common saying for this is, “can’t see the forest for the trees“, meaning I get so involved with the details of a situation that I lose sight of the larger issue. Or, in my case, you could call it stubborn, for when I set my mind on something, my laser sharp focus can often be a curse and not a blessing.

In the case of the Asheville snake, I am actually very thankful that I fixated on the dragonfly because the picture was an amazing surprise and had I seen the snake, I definitely would have freaked. However, I also love the wisdom that it provides, which is that concentration and focus are very important, but of equal importance is viewing life with a broader lens and appreciating all of the gifts that surround us.

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