Sometimes we need to relearn the most basic of things in a new environment. Have you ever noticed how new hikers or trail runners tend to focus on the ground or the trail ahead of them when they walk or run? This is a common tendency for those just taking up trails as they are logically trying not to fall. The problem is, this can become a habit. When concentrating on what’s directly ahead of you, you tend to miss the flora and fauna in the middle range around you and the vistas in the far distance. What to do? You don’t want to fall, after all, by taking your eyes off the path.
Similar to the way an experienced driver learns to sweep his eyes over the rearview and sideview mirrors while taking in the view ahead, so an experienced outdoorsman trains his eyes to continuously monitor the near, middle, and far distances, in that order and repeating those sweeps continuously. First, the hiker looks at the trail ahead, observing jutting roots and rocks. Then he commits the path to short-term memory to lift eyes to the middle distance. When observing the middle distance, one looks for interesting plants and, more importantly wildlife. There are two ways to visually process the middle distance. First, by looking for movement, and second to look for shapes. Watching for movement comes more easily but by looking for shapes and irregularity in lighting, we might find a partially obscured deer or panther frozen in posture, looking out at us from between branches. Finally, we look at far distance, for the soul-stirring vistas for which we came, or to see a thunderhead building up rapidly where just moments ago was nothing but blue sky. This situational awareness often determines the larger outcome of our travels.
The path of life is like a hiking trip. If we keep our eyes myopically focused on the day-to-day and week-to-week march of our jobs, we may miss tactical opportunities or even strategic calls in our life’s work. If we are too driven by our daily agenda to—for example—go to a conference, we may miss networking opportunities or awareness of technology that would help us do better at our current jobs. We may fail to realize that it is time to transition to a different career path or seek promotion. At a strategic level, we need to assess whether where we are is truly where we’re supposed to be. But while we take in the tactical and strategic views, we can’t let dreams be our master lest we forget to advance our day-to-day work that makes such dreams possible. And so, before too long, we should lower our gaze to the “trail” to map out and stride into our next steps in the path of life.
