Living Joyfully-Keep Your Eyes on the Road

While on bedrest with my last pregnancy, my then-3 year old daughter and I would sometimes play racing games on the Wii. She was able to come in first place when she played alone, but when I joined and the game became a split screen, she always came in last. Frustrated with her efforts, she couldn't understand why she kept falling off mountains, and running into walls.

Finally I asked her: "Whose screen are you looking at?"
"I can't keep my eyes on my own road. I keep looking at yours." she responded.

In that moment, I knew I had a teachable life lesson. I explained that in order to focus on doing her best, she needed to keep her eyes on her own race. Both in the game and in life. She could not control my race, but kept looking at and comparing my race to her own. This led to a lack of focus, running into things, and not finishing the race to the best of her ability.

How often we do that in life. "It's not fair...", "But she....", "Why me?" questions can abound when we are trying to follow the often rocky race that has been carved for us. But, by comparing our life and circumstances to those of others, we inevitably lose focus, become discouraged, and cannot finish the race set before us in the best way possible.

So, keep your eyes on your own road. While sometimes curvy, it is also paved with little joys.

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