The Walk of Life

Even prior to COVID, many of us led very hectic lives and often felt pulled in many different directions. Respected therapist Carol Vivyan shared her perspective on this a while back and it remains relevant today: When we are walking along the footpath, we tend to look just ahead of us most of the time, with occasional glances behind us and far ahead. We look behind as we need to know of anything approaching from behind or to see where we have come from, and look far ahead to make sure we are heading in the right direction to get to where we want to go. Most of the time though, we need to know where we are putting our feet.

If we were constantly looking behind us, then we would be walking into obstacles or tripping over. If we were constantly focused on the far distance, we would slip and trip over obstacles beneath us. (It can be fun to act this out!)

So it is with life. Sometimes we are so focused on our past, that we neglect the present, and wonder why we keep falling flat on our faces. Or perhaps we are so attentive to anticipating dangers up ahead, that again, we trip and stumble our way through life.