Isn’t it funny how life lessons will come find us wherever we are? I love that! I can be in the middle of a routine task, and boom, I see a new dimension, a new perspective – one that I had not considered before.
This morning I was washing my hands at the sink. Nothing out of the ordinary there. I couldn’t even tell you what specifically led me to be washing my hands. But as I stood there, I looked at the sink over the mirror.
Silently, absent-mindedly, I did a mental check.
Pleasant face. (something I like to check for ever since I caught myself frowning at the mirror, deep in thought. “Think attractively” has become my mantra!)
Jewelry? Got it.
Hair looks nice.
Makeup is on. Ooh, but I need lipstick.
There! Ready to head to work!
And then it hit me – something I had missed in my absent-minded checklist. A spot on my nose.
Zoom. All my attention immediately went to that up-till-now subtle little spot. More like a smudge, really.
Funny I hadn’t noticed it before. What caused it? I guess it had been here the whole time.
As I raised my hands to dry them on the towel, I noticed that, though I moved, the smudge did not. Ooh, silly me. It was only a spot on the mirror!
I focused on the smudge and my reflection went blurry. I looked back at my reflection and the smudge disappeared.
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Isn’t that so much like life? We can go along, content, enjoying life, and then one tiny smudge, one tiny comment, word, attitude, tone inflection, can completely distract and upset us. Instead of being content we find ourselves focusing on this tiny problem.
Just like one can focus on different objects with their eyes or with a camera, our life perspective can change focus too.
But guess what? Your focus can shift back to the positive, the good, the lovely! And when you purposefully seek the beautiful and edifying things the smudges, those frustrations and irritations, lose their importance.
Just as what you don’t focus on with your camera becomes blurry and is no match for the beauty of where you are focusing, the same is true of life! So keep your focus on the remarkable and amazing things around you! And when you are tempted to focus on the smudges, refresh your perspective and again focus on the beauty!
Until Next Time!
Hope.
PS. Do you ever have real life ah-ha moments like this? I’d love it if you shared them! Comment below or email me at hope@theamericanlady.com.