17 Aug Look Both Ways
Some cities are walking cities. Unlike Phoenix, where we drive with the air conditioner on full blast even for the shortest jaunt (and assume someone must be in distress and in immediate need of help if they are strolling down a busy street), there are plenty of places in the world where the easiest way to get around is to put on good, comfortable shoes and set off on foot.
London is one such walking city. On a recent family vacation, we spent our days exploring the sights, walking thousands of steps and refueling with lots of scones and jam. Because the girls aren’t used to walking around in a busy city, whenever we would come to stop signs and traffic lights, I would hold their hands and remind them to look both ways. Many of the crossings – likely intended for disoriented tourists like us – are marked with large letters reminding pedestrians to “Look Left.”
As I reminded myself to look left, I realized it was more difficult than I thought. Since we were walking on the right side of the road, looking left meant looking back the way we came. In life as well, it often comes more naturally to look right – looking toward our goal or ideal, focusing on what’s next, what we still need to do, how far we still have to go. Less intuitive is looking left or reminding ourselves of where we began and the progress we’ve made.
It’s easy to miss what we’ve accomplished when we are focused on the gap between where we are and where we want to be. But when we are looking for a little more encouragement and motivation to keep working toward our goals, it helps to look left and appreciate just how far we’ve come.
When crossing the street or measuring your progress, remember to look both ways, mind the gap and measure the gain.