This summer our family spent a few days in Idaho at our family cabin. It was the first trip there since Tyler was diagnosed with cancer, and it was the first trip there without him.
Firsts are always hard - fortunately the calm and beauty of our surroundings had a way of bringing comfort and peace. I was able to disconnect from the world a little bit and find my way back to center.
I've thought a lot lately about why I find my center in those surroundings, and I realized it is because the world is larger there. It is larger because my reach to the outside world is limited. You realize how big the world really is when your reach to it is taken away. It makes me feel like a young boy again, when the world was so big you couldn't comprehend all that was beyond what I could see. When the world I live in is bigger, I am smaller. I am able to focus on what is immediately in front of me. I know my place and how the world works. I am humbled at the shear size of the world and the small role I play in it. When I am back home the world shrinks again. It is smaller because everything in it is at my fingertips no matter how far away. You no longer have to wonder about the world, because it is accessible to you no matter how far away. When the world is smaller, it is easy to feel bigger. When the world shrinks t is easy to lose the humility that comes when the world is awe-inspiring and big.
The challenge is to always feel small regardless of circumstances. When we are small we are able to stay close to what is important and avoid what is not.
What makes your world big or small? What is important when your world is big? What is important when your world is small?
Where do you find your center? Cherish every moment. Tyler's Dad Whatever It Takes