Reminder to stay focused on future

God wants to take your scars and turn them into stars. He wants to take those disappointments and turn them into reappointments. But understand, whether you will experience all those good things in your future depends to a large extent on your willingness to let go of the past.

-- JOEL OSTEEN

God used a recent situation that I observed on a morning walk to remind me of the importance of focus.

It was a sunny morning, and as I walked up a hill, I could see a man and a black dog walking down. The man talked on the phone, and turned his head to watch a bright sports car as it zoomed past him. He was still looking back, but walking forward, letting his dog guide him, when he tripped over something, and consequently dropped his phone while regaining his balance.

He patted his dog, picked up the phone and was checking it over when it rang again. I smiled at him as we passed and realized that it had been much better for him to trip over a rock than it would have been for him to run into the fire hydrant that was also in his path.

I imagine he watched where he was going for the rest of his walk.

Years ago I heard a speaker who had a wonderful visual illustration about the importance of looking ahead instead of behind us. As he spoke, he held up a rear-view mirror and asked the audience what he was holding and what it was for.

We all said it was a rear-view mirror and it’s to show what is behind us.

He nodded and congratulated us on being a very bright group of women.

Then he held up a cardboard rear-view mirror, which was probably about five feet wide. He continued to hold it up and he asked us how we would like to have a rear view mirror of that size in our car.

We all agreed that we would not like a mirror that large and that we wouldn’t see well if we had one.

Again, he congratulated us on our brilliance and explained that the purpose of a rear view mirror is simply to show what is behind us, but that for most of the time, we need to look out the front window to see where we are driving.

He explained that if we focus too much time and attention looking at what is behind us, we’re likely to crash into something ahead of us. His demonstration was meant to drive home the point that there are times and situations when it is helpful look back at our childhoods, but the focus of our lives is meant to be forward.

Some people spend far too much time dwelling on the past, and when they do so, they tend to miss out on the enjoyment of the present.

It was a great visual, and I still remember it decades later. God knows all about our past, but what is even better is that he knows all about, and wants to be lovingly involved, in our present and our future.

And you can quote me on that.

* CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON is a Newport Beach resident who speaks frequently to parenting groups. She may be reached via e-mail at cindy@onthegrow.com or through the mail at 537 Newport Center Drive, Box 505, Newport Beach, CA 92660.

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