Look Up!
Today rather than run my usual five mile route, I opted to slow it down to a walk and purposefully take in the beauty of the day.
I’ve run this route through my neighborhood several times a week for over five years. I thought I knew it backwards and forwards, until today…
Today I walked and I made a point of looking up.
Most days when I run this route, I have my head down. I’m focused on the pavement in front of me. My sights are set on finishing, not on taking in everything around me.
Today I saw birds soaring through the air.
Today I saw the beautiful buds of the trees in various shades of green on the hillsides all around me.
Today I saw people I’ve never seen before and I paused to engage in conversation with neighbors I usually fly jog past.
Today I smelled the amazing scent of the lilacs in bloom (one of my all-time favorite flowers).
Today I heard the birds chirping and singing.
Today my usual corner of the world was completely fresh and new.
But isn’t that how we handle much of life? We find our heads down. We’re buried in the details of the task ahead of us. We’re focused on the finish and we’re missing so much in between.
Sometimes you just have to look up.
It turns out I know the pavement backwards and forwards, but there was a whole new dimension of life I was missing.
What are you buried in? What would happen if you looked up?
Jenni, love this. I ALWAYS look down when I run and wondered if other people do it as well. But often when I'm running, I have to be INTENTIONAL about looking up. And it's so relative of how I live my life. Focus on what is right in front of me, rather than being OBSERVATIONAL (is that a work?) and trying to look around at what is going on around me. Love this! Will ponder this thought today and see how I can observe more of what's going on around me.