I went on a business trip to CHICAGO recently…

…and it was a DISASTER

It was only a day trip, so I decided not to bring my glasses.. Even though I can’t see the big E

My boss wanted to make some final changes to our materials at midnight, so I typed away

Sir Boss, I really can’t see anything right

now

When the FINAL email came in…

I set my alarm for 6AM and went STRAIGHT to sleep

But when I woke up, I realized that I FORGOT my contacts

And I had a meeting with a CEO later

Why is this person squinting at me?

I NEEDED my contacts. ASAP.

So I rushed down to the hotel’s business center to print 1,000 copies…

I hope no one comes in and sees me with my face plastered to the

monitor…

…And then rushed into a cab to go to the eye doctor to pick up some contacts

As I looked out of the window, I realized that the blurry Chicago I saw was

surprisingly BEAUTIFUL

Even as I stepped out of the taxi only to face falling icicles from the building

above…

…it was still BEAUTIFUL. What was there to fear if I couldn’t see it anyway?

But when I put in my newly bought contacts, Chicago became GRAY AND

DULL

I guess I couldn’t really see the details without my contacts, but somehow it had

been BETTER that way

Someone once told me that he never knew he was HAPPY until it was in the

past

In high school, EVERYTHING seemed like it was a BIG DEAL

This SUCKS…

But when he started working, he forgot the small things that used to bother him and realized that he was actually really

HAPPY back thenWhy do I have to wear suits everyday? I wish I could go

back to high school.

We always tend to look at the present with a MAGNIFYING GLASS

But as TIME PASSES…

We forget the SMALL THINGS that used to be such a BIG DEAL

We are able to see things from a different PERSPECTIVE, and we can truly appreciate the

BEAUTY in our lives

As I rode towards my meeting in Chicago, I thought…

What if I was able to see what I saw without my contacts on EVERY DAY of my life?

It’s not that I’m going to blind myself to what’s going on around me…

It’s just that I’ll remember to step back from the daily GRIT AND GRIND

And ignore the small things that WEIGH ME DOWN

I’m going to embrace the things I have

I don’t like hugs.. but just this once…

And stop listing off the things that I don’t have or the dreams that didn’t go

as planned

After all, wouldn’t you rather SPREAD light…

Versus TAKING IT AWAY ?

So let’s THROW AWAY our magnifying glasses

And actually SMELL the roses

While choosing to overlook that HAIRY CATEPILLAR that might be crawling on the

petals

Thanks for reading

Willow’s Wednesday’s Musings

Image from essitolling.wordpress.com