Living With Blinders

Like a horse with blinders on, I put one foot in front of the other, doing the next thing, completely forgetting that there are things going on in the periphery. I tend to live my life this way. It’s my default. If I am not intentional about noticing things around me, I will continue “getting things done” and miss what is past the blinders. 

 

 

 

Directly in front of me is the giant pile of laundry, last night’s dishes that still smell like salmon, beds that haven’t been made in weeks, and carpets in desperate need of a vacuum. The urgent that can easily outweigh the important. I could spend all day doing those things and at the end of the day have a house that rivals Martha Stewart’s best intentions.

 

 

 

My ten-year-old daughter on the brink of change who is unsure of herself and needs a momma to help her walk through it. My husband who needs more than clean underwear and supper on the table; he needs encouragement and affection. My friend who needs more than a quick reply to a text. She needs a person on the other end of the line listening and crying with her. The ministry God has for me to do requires planning and intention and won’t get done unless I make time. 

 

 

This Pinterest-perfect world we live in can easily put so many demands on us as women that we could spend our whole lives answering the calls of the urgent and completely miss the important–even the eternal. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to look up one day and see that my kids are grown, and I’ve lost their hearts while in the pursuit of an empty laundry basket. 

 

Do you make it a point to look up and see the things in the periphery of your life? Take a moment today to put aside the urgent and relish the true moments that make up life.