Today I took a walk with a new friend of mine. Her name is Gracie. She isn’t quite 4 feet tall yet, and I am guessing she is 5, maybe 6 years old tops. We were heading through Cook Park on our way to a Sunrise Easter Service, walking through the trails in the woods. The air was nice and cool, turning our cheeks red and making our fingers numb. Her mom and dad we on the trail with us, and all of us were enjoying a change from normal. As we all walked towards the dock and covered picnic area, Gracie would stop, seeing the smallest of flowers, a natural bird bath, or other detail easily missed As we continued I started to wonder why I hadn’t seen all the things that Gracie was seeing before? I walk through Cook Park every week. I quickly rationalized that Gracie is lower to the ground than I am, so it only makes sense that she would see those things and not me. But as I kept watching her I noticed that it had nothing to do with her height. It had more to do with her state of mind. She wasn’t hurried, she wasn’t replaying a conversation from earlier in the morning, she wasn’t worrying what others on the trail might be thinking of her. And because of that she was seeing things that I was missing. As we kept walking I continued to wonder, how many things was I missing each day because of stress, busyness, deadlines, and other distractions. What was I walking by without noticing? Have I missed opportunities to see into the hearts of my kids, when did I last notice the color of Darla’s eyes? I have been better at noticing what is going on inside of me (thanks to my $90 an hour best friend, but am I missing the things going on all around me? There is a world out there just asking to be discovered. It has been a while since I have noticed a sunset or enjoyed the feeling of rain on my face. This is a great time of year as flowers are blooming, leaves are coming back on the trees, the squirrels are running on our fence. It is time to start seeing things again. I really want to be more like Gracie, noticing everything that is around me and getting excited by its color, or smell, or sound that it makes, or just being excited that I noticed at all. Thanks for teaching me something Gracie.
A Lesson from a Walk
Today I took a walk with a new friend of mine. Her name is Gracie. She isn’t quite 4 feet tall yet, and I am guessing she is 5, maybe 6 years old tops. We were heading through Cook Park on our way to a Sunrise Easter Service, walking through the trails in the woods. The air was nice and cool, turning our cheeks red and making our fingers numb. Her mom and dad we on the trail with us, and all of us were enjoying a change from normal. As we all walked towards the dock and covered picnic area, Gracie would stop, seeing the smallest of flowers, a natural bird bath, or other detail easily missed As we continued I started to wonder why I hadn’t seen all the things that Gracie was seeing before? I walk through Cook Park every week. I quickly rationalized that Gracie is lower to the ground than I am, so it only makes sense that she would see those things and not me. But as I kept watching her I noticed that it had nothing to do with her height. It had more to do with her state of mind. She wasn’t hurried, she wasn’t replaying a conversation from earlier in the morning, she wasn’t worrying what others on the trail might be thinking of her. And because of that she was seeing things that I was missing. As we kept walking I continued to wonder, how many things was I missing each day because of stress, busyness, deadlines, and other distractions. What was I walking by without noticing? Have I missed opportunities to see into the hearts of my kids, when did I last notice the color of Darla’s eyes? I have been better at noticing what is going on inside of me (thanks to my $90 an hour best friend, but am I missing the things going on all around me? There is a world out there just asking to be discovered. It has been a while since I have noticed a sunset or enjoyed the feeling of rain on my face. This is a great time of year as flowers are blooming, leaves are coming back on the trees, the squirrels are running on our fence. It is time to start seeing things again. I really want to be more like Gracie, noticing everything that is around me and getting excited by its color, or smell, or sound that it makes, or just being excited that I noticed at all. Thanks for teaching me something Gracie.
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