Creatures of Now
Hi Friend
It has been an exciting week of encounters, experiences and expressions. Not all my own. My son started a new job at McDonalds headquarters. It's an unexpected transition from ad agency life to corporate advertising. And what a place to begin! Super excited for everything he's going to learn.
Monica had a travel experience this week that was treachery. They say in our business we're not paid to speak but to travel. It's consistently wrought with challenges, but hers were extraordinary. Delay after delay after delay, eventually canceling after a 12 hour day in two airports trying to get to a third. She never made the event.
Neither of those experiences are mine, but I felt both of them. How great is it that our life isn't limited to our own narrow existence? When those we care about encounter something, whether positive or negative, we also get access to it. Granted it's a second row seat, but one that still evokes emotions and thoughts.
The bigness of life correlates directly to the quality and quantity of relationships we have. The ebb and flow of people in and out of our lives keeps our journey dynamic. There are seasons where one friend, family member, colleague or client can become all-consuming and impact us in unexpected ways; requiring enormous amounts of focus and attention. And then that season ends.
IMMEDIATE
We are creatures of now. Whatever situation we are in (ours or someone else's) there is a persistent presence that perpetuates a sensation of urgent immediacy. When things are hard or when things are amazing, it's extremely difficult for our minds to look past these moments. We are fully in it. The gripping nature of now debilitates perspective.
Most people don't even choose their attention. Some thing, or more accurately, some one requires it - whether physically or mentally. It makes sense when we have a second row seat in their lives and can contribute or celebrate in a meaningful way. It's when we're in the 3rd or 4th row, that it becomes a trap of worry, envy or false feelings.
MINDSHIFT
ARE YOU CURRENTLY FOCUSING ON WHAT'S MOST IMPORTANT OR WHAT'S MOST URGENT?
That reminds me of the old Covey Urgent/Important Quad Box. All of life was sorted into four boxes and the more we could live in box 2, the more satisfying and effective it was. I certainly tried and try to be proactive about not letting the urgent dictate my energy. How about you? Where we give attention, we give energy.
DETERMINED DISCERNMENT
Life isn't a quad box and discerning what's important isn't as simple as we would like it to be. The urgency of now, makes it feel like it's really important. Of course, everything is pressing! Everyone thinks their needs are most important. We think our needs are pretty important too. Yet, when we step back, take a grander view, what appears to be significant in the moment, isn't so much, in the bigger picture of life.
Being able to look from a wider macro vantage point, gives us the ability to distinguish more accurately what truly is consequential.
MINDSHIFT
STEP BACK FROM A CURRENT SCENARIO AND EVALUATE IT FROM A 3-6 MONTH FUTURE TIME FRAME AND SEE IF IT'S STILL AS CRITICAL AS IT FEELS NOW.
I love that relationships expand my world view. I'm grateful for the variety of characters with whom I have a 2nd row seat. Their lives give me exposure to aspects I would not have otherwise. What's even more fun is when they overlap. Like with Lincoln, I've had the privilege of speaking at the McDonalds Corporate office the last two years, for the Ronald McDonald House Global Charities team. With Monica, I've been in O'Hare countless times and I've had more delayed flights than I'd like to think about.
Sharing life, being present & future aware, prioritizing well, all while making and growing valuable relationships is the adventure of our aliveness!
I hope this week you shift your thoughts from the urgent-now to the future-important, and adjust accordingly. Live big with those you care about and see how life keeps revealing and see how life keeps expanding.
