Beginning to see

Hello High Heelers,


I may be in my thirties, but I still just love Dr. Seuss stories. You’re never too old for the wisdom of the Cat in the Hat. In fact, I think most good children’s stories were written for adults – the pictures are for the kids, the words are for us. Either that or I’m still growing up, or I’m just immature – both viable options. One of my (many) favourite Dr. Seuss quotes is: “You'll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut.”  How very true.


I learnt recently that you miss the big things too if you keep your eyes shut. Yep. This morning I got the fight of my life when I drove straight into my gate. Now, to give you some perspective, I was driving forwards – not backwards. My gate is about 4 meters wide and 3 meters tall. And its black – a rather stand-outish colour. And yet, somehow, while waving ‘good morning’ to the gate guard in my complex, I managed to drive straight into this big, black, visible, solid gate – knocking it right off its hinges and entertaining my neighbours no end. There was lots of laughing and pointing. Fair enough. Me = idiot/blonde moron/blind chick (pick whichever works best for you). Sigh! I did a proper job.


On top of ruining the gate, I managed to crush the front side of my very dear Mini-mobile. She looks like she’s been in a fight. Her left eye is totally crumpled and the silver lining around her light is cracked. I feel sad just looking at her. I can almost hear her shouting at me: “How did you hit the damn gate you dork? Your eyes were open!” Which would be a very fair question for her to ask me. A question that I’m completely incapable of answering. I don’t know what happened. My eyes were wide open. But I really wasn’t looking. And therein lies the problem. You can actually have your eyes open while not looking at anything at all. You can – I am exhibit A in this experiment and my Mini is collateral damage.


You know, looking is an important part of life. We look back, we look sideways, we look forward, we’re on the look-out… We look a lot. But how often do we really see? I was looking right at my gate this morning, but because my mind was preoccupied with chaos, my day, my workload, my broken nail, solving world hunger, etc. I didn’t see one very large obstacle that stopped me right in my tracks. You know that looking in the wrong direction or being distracted can really halt your destiny.


Those who look back – either reminiscing on how wonderful times were thinking that the best times have passed, or wounded over how their horrific past has ruined their present – are stuck seeing what was. They cannot see the path of opportunity and possibility. You know the best thing about the past? It’s passed. Those looking sideways at what others have, miss the beautiful things that are right in front of them. Those looking at where they are right now don’t always see how things will be soon, or how things could be from a different angle. Those who look to the future and take in where they are and what they’ve been through are able to create a journey filled with perspective and meaning.


I’m finally beginning to see that I should start seeing things the way they really are, how they should be and how they can be. Do you see that too? Let’s turn off our lens that we’ve adapted to suit our comfort zone, our position, our personality and what’s best for us. Let’s learn from what we see and what we’ve seen. Let’s grow from having vision. Let’s keep our eyes wide open and our brains active. Step up. Look up and see great heights.


In the words of Dr. Seuss:


There are so many things you can learn about, but
You’ll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut.
The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.


Let’s go into the future walking tall, reading loads and seeing the world!


Yours in heels,
Jo

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