It's the View!

On my way to the office, almost every day during my 15 years at MultiCare, I would walk by the same picture. I probably didn't notice it at first (isn't this like everything in life?). I am not sure when it became a part of me. But then, all of the sudden it was a ritual, something I yearned for every morning (right along with my coffee).

I cannot tell you who the artist was/is. I am sorry. This is obviously a downfall of mine. In every aspect of my life, details get swept under the rug. It is a watercolor. It is a painting of a treacherous mountain road turning a corner. One side of the corner is hillside, the other side has a spectacular view of the ocean. No vehicles are in sight.

For years, when I would come upon this painting, I would always wonder where the road was taking its passenger. What was around the corner? I wanted to know so badly that, daily, as I passed the painting, I would imagine what might be in store for its passenger. A car wreck? A home? Another corner? A vacation? Another mountain to climb? A valley to coast down into? A never ending road? Every day I imagined some different destination for this passenger. It became a ritual. Part of my routine.

There was one particular day however that I stopped short and refused to participate in my routine. I think I had finally run out of options for the passenger. All of the sudden, I felt a surge in my body. It was the view! I had missed it completely. The destination or what may happen didn't matter. It was the view of the ocean in all its greatness that was being missed.

The next day I couldn't wait to see the painting again; to soak up the view that had been missed for years. Too often in my own life I get caught up in the getting somewhere that I forget that its the going and the enjoying that really matter.

.