Focus on…?

I was on a walk today, and I saw this:

I took a closer look and saw this:

And then I focused even closer and saw this:

How beautiful! But only after I took the time to look up close – to focus on the beauty that was not noticeable from a glance or from afar.

Each day is filled with all sorts of things – maybe some are happy or beautiful, maybe some are sad, others are annoying. What are we going to focus on? It’s as if what we focus on is the thing that gets bigger, that dominates.

We have to deal with the sad things, and we have to look and even focus on, to some extent, the broken things so that we can fix them. Ugly things exist. But there is always beauty somewhere. And it is worth focusing on.

On this morning’s walk, where I took these photos, there were a lot of geese and therefore a lot of goose poo on the walkway. I glanced ahead at the goose poo while I walk, so that I don’t step on it, but I am not focusing on it.

I am focusing on the beautiful scenery. So yes, I have to navigate the ugly, but I don’t have to focus on it. I focus on the beautiful things that restore my soul. We need to deal with the mundane, the broken, and the ugly, but let’s focus on the beautiful. We’ll be better for it.