Walking the Path But Seeing the Flowers

The more stressed we become, the more intent we are on what must be done, the harder it is to see the wonder in the world. Conversely without focus on the things that we need to do we will not get them done. So the skill we need to develop is one of keeping our actions focused while allowing our perception to be wide; to see the world but skillfully act along our path without distraction.

Distractions in this context are the things that move us from our path. There are other things that we encounter, things that are not part of our plan, not part of what we were expecting but are not distracting. Lets call them wonders.

Wonders are the little unexpected moments of beauty and joy that we encounter every day, and for the most part ignore.

An example: as I sat at the coffee shop this morning I watched a man walk away with his coffee. A cat was following him. They crossed the street together. It was very casual, just a man and his cat out for a walk, but it brought a smile to my face.

We need to see the wonder along the road to see the happiness in the world and enjoy it without getting lost in it.