July 25, 2007

Daily Observations 11-4-05

I was sitting at a Chick-Fil-A this morning, waiting to see if the other two members of our male accountability group were going to show up - being 30 minutes late - testing my own measure of accountability. As I read through the morning newspaper, I occasionally glanced out the window as the cars lined up to go through the drive-thru. And as I watched the majority of the woman who were putting their make up on, I began to wonder;

What was going through their minds? Were they already in their ‘work mode’? I wonder… well you might imagine the things men wonder about.

One Mustang GT in particular (of four that morning) caught my eye as the woman drove up staring hopelessly out of the front window with sort of a distained, semi-tolerant look on her face. A man in the car who’s lips never ceased movement producing what I could only imagine as some form of berating conversation. I felt this nagging urge to go outside, over to her window and ask her;

“What’s that guy saying to you that has you so consumed in thought? And why are you just sitting there with that hopeless expression, that dead look on your face? Don’t you know how precious life is?”

I’m feeling particularly tuned into my own reflections of the value of life (and time) as I read about “A Worldwide Threat” - the H5N1 bird flue which may only consume 7.5 million people vs. the 300 million as earlier estimated.

Maybe my frame of mind has something to do with the book I picked up and finally started reading last night after renewing it for the third time at the local library. Frankl writes about his ‘profound’ experiences that have shaped his understanding of happiness;

“For success like happiness, cannot be pursued… It must ensure, and it only does do as the unintended side-effect of one’s dedication to a cause greater than oneself, or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself.”

I could not begin to interpret for you my understanding of his perspective. Simply reading the first 10-15 pages put a damper on the importance of the daily debate about Prop 2 or whether the local sports team would rebound.

And as I thought about it, in the time it will actually take to type these thoughts down, have them edited, and put to press, all of these minuscule observations will be long forgotten as I get going in my own daily rat race.

So, as I drove away for whatever reason I lowered my window and allowed the various sounds to flood my ears. I must have been in reflective mood because I really didn’t mind the normally annoying sound of the Macaws or what ever those big black ugly birds are; and the sound of one lone lawn mower cutting the common yard for the last time this season. It was, I guess I would say surreal.

So as I’m rushing home thinking about what deadlines I have for today, I thought,

“I really ought to get a tape recorder and record some of these things I see - maybe for some later reflection.”

Then I realize;

“You know it isn’t so important what casually strolled into my attention this morning,” but rather, “What will I choose to observe today?”

What will you choose to observe today?

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