Why your focus matters
"Do you realize there was a time in each of our lives as kids where you picked us up for the very last time and you didn't even realize it?" A friend of mine posted this quote on her Facebook wall (an observation from her son) and it stopped me in my tracks as inescapably true.
I have no idea when I stopped picking up my kids. I know the age/weight range, but as for the actual day, it slipped by without fanfare or even a marker; it simply disappeared.
When I thought about it, I realized the list of unnoticed "lasts" gets longer every year.
When was I last able to read the ingredients on the side of a cereal box? When was I last happy with the radio at full volume? When did I stop running up flights of stairs?
What's the deal with back fat anyhow? (I digress from the topic, but still, I'd like to know...)
On days when the speed of life feels more real, more fleeting than normal, I realize how futile it is to anticipate the "lasts" of my life. Every day is the "last" of something, if only the day.
However, what I can do is enjoy what's in front of me. I can focus and find the joys of today. Even on the bleakest of days, there is redemption waiting in the wings.
I simply have to decide if I'm going to focus on the rear view mirror or out the front window.
Where are you deciding to focus?