The Possibilities

Verona Wisconsin    1/27/2018     dwm photo

"Infinite possibilities can be exciting, but sometimes even more beautiful is doubling down on the life that you have."

Kate Bowler, Duke Professor and author of Everything Happens for a Reason: and other Lies I've Loved   (TIME, Feb. 5, 2018)

In the current issue of TIME, Kate Bowler is the subject on the back page with 8 Questions.

She has cancer and a young child.  No doubt she's changed how she looks at life.

Even her thought in the above quote, which jumped out at me, means something different depending on the prism through which you view it.

My thought as a 54 year old is of a hummingbird.  In my last position, one responsibility was for the annual dinner auction.  As the months gave way to weeks and then days to complete the planning - I described my attention to task like a hummingbird flying from one feeder to the next and the next.

Judging what task is the most important seemed impossible with so much to do, so I tried to do all of them and succeeded in having a lot of partially completed jobs.  In related situations now, I try to focus on one at a time.

It's not the same as her situation, but I believe the idea is the same.  Focus on the most needful, ignore the shiny, fluttering objects vying for your time and attention.  It's good advice, but difficult to put into practice.

Looking at from a more dramatic angle, if the house is on fire - get yourself and your family out - then, if its safe worry about the valuables inside.  Better yet, don't worry about the so-called valuables.

Yes, it is easier to say than to do.  Those infinite possibilities; the what-ifs; are mind-bugs which grab our attention and draw use away from the life in front of us.

If those infinite possibilities are meant for us to explore, the time will come.

Live here, live now.  Tomorrow will wait.