There is a window to the world for each of us. A small opening to a bigger picture. A viewing pane from what things ARE into what COULD be.
Creating Experiences
Prior to Christmas, it hit me. Our daughter Ashtyn is a junior in high school, she is more than halfway through this school year. That means in less than a year and a half, she graduates.
I decided that instead of a bunch of stuff for Christmas that I would surprise her and Shannon with a trip to New York City, New York. The time in which we have to create experiences is dwindling.
Window to the World
Ashtyn had a window seat for the trip. It was strategic, so that she had a window that saw the world. One in which many of us have experienced. That view through that small window can provide breathtaking perspectives on the world we live in.
The stories she told on the way back, the glow on her face, all made the expense worth it. It created a desire in me to create more of these experiences. To open up the world that lays ahead for her.
So I Wrestled with this Question. What keeps us from looking at life and leadership through this Vantage Point? Here are three things:
Fear
Confession…I have only flown four times in my life. For a long time, I just had a genuine fear of flying. I much preferred to have my feet on the ground.
The problem is, the ground level limited my ability to see things. The view from those plane windows opened up perspectives I had never seen before. Beautiful, breathtaking sites.
The further you go in leadership, the scarier things can get. Our minds get the best of us. The possibility of the things that are likely never to happen consume our minds. Fear limits our ability to see the bigger picture. It can impede our ability to even see at all.
Stuff
Even if we have the window seat, stuff can block our view. There are two types of stuff. The things we can control and those we can’t. Darkness and clouds…we can’t control. The shades to the window…we can control.
Stuff arrives in life and leadership in the form of circumstances. Some we can control and some that we cannot. Out of our control are the storms of life, the chaos, and the confusion that lies in our sight line. Those things create a dense layer of fog that makes us focus on the near, and impedes our ability to see further.
Busyness is the shade we choose to pull down that blocks our view. It is well within our control. Easier said than done, huh? It is a constant struggle for me. When I find myself buried in tasks, it tends to be self-inflicted. I controlled pulling the shades down.
Lack of Investment
Sometimes we just don’t make the investment to get the window seat. Whether it is investing the time to plan and get the window seat, or spending the money it takes to get the seat. On a plane, you must be in the right position to see out the window to the world. You just have to invest the time and money.
In life and leadership a lack of investment puts us out of position to see our greater worlds through the window. Making the choice to set aside time to read, write, and dream can make a world of difference. Spending money and investing in books, leadership development seminars, and skill development workshops place us in the position to see further.
Conclusion
Most of the time I have flown, it has been either extremely cloudy or dark. But…there have been moments where the skies are bright and perfectly clear. The window to the world is majestic in those moments. Everything ahead is perfectly clear.
Life and leadership is just the same. There are moments of fog, moments of darkness. If we just keep flying, the window to the world will offer us something special on the other side of those impediments. A place that is full of joy, happiness, and sites in life that we could never image. Experiences and moments that will Redirect Our Journeys.
The window to the world has a lot to offer. Don’t fear it, don’t let stuff keep you from it, and don’t go cheap.