Where's the focus?

Myopia is a mental condition. A synonym for the term is short-sightedness.  It is the condition of not being able to see ramifications resulting from one's actions.  I'm certainly guilty of having myopia.  I have looked at many a situation when all I could see was a close-up of the circumstance.  My actions showed that I really only had the next step in mind, not the end game.

If only I had had the sense to step back, I could have seen that the rock I was looking at was not the only rock on the ground, that that rock was among others even if it was the biggest rock around.  I could have seen that the rock had a use by using it as a stepping stone to another rock.  If I moved this one rock, I wouldn't have solved the problem since all of the rocks together had a purpose.  Sometimes, I actually do see a pattern in my actions and reactions to events that are related in some manner to other actions around me.  But, even then, I feel paralyzed and I feel compelled to retain focus on my own very large problem.  I'm still too close to the situation.

If I had been able to look up a little more, I could have seen that there was a whole trail of rocks leading down to a creek.  Trees and other rocks were strategically and beautifully placed.  The rocks were there to disperse the water so it wouldn't flood into one spot on the creek or gather too much strength as it flowed in as a tributary.  I might have seen that there was at least one other rock bigger than the one I had been concentrating on.  I could have seen the purpose of the rocks as a natural enhancement to the scene, a part of a bigger picture.  Surely the creek would have taken center stage if only I had looked.

And, if I had looked down the trail of rocks to see a creek, I probably would have seen that the creek was bigger than a small ribbon of water running beside a tree.  There was a pool of water that the creek was feeding as it ran through a grove of trees in a linear park.  The rocks would have merely been one small part of a scene that also included water, trees, sloping hill, island, and a far bank sloping upward again.  Wow, who would have thought that the situation I was so focused on in the first place could have been seen from a different angle, and actually been trivialized because of the beauty of the rest of the objects in the scene.  Yep, it was myopia that kept me from having true focus.

And if I ever forget what the true picture is all about, then someone should take a brick to my head to wake me from a great fog.  The most important thing about the picture is that the reason for any situation is not about the things in the picture but about the people who are enjoying the scene or who will be affected by my narrow view.

Oh yeah, the people who are the most important people to you on the face of the Earth.  How could any situation be so important that it can't be linked to something bigger and ultimately impact the lives around you?  The next time I think that I face a situation requiring my full attention, it won't get my entire focus.  The people around me will remain the significant feature of the situation rather than the tiny spot that ignores the bigger picture.  Myopia is a condition of foolishness.  It kills good judgment.