A case in point is the humble structure that my children and I call home. During my married years, I would drive past this house on my way to retrieve my children from the school where they attended 4th, 5th and 6th grade. As we would pass I'd comment about the house to my children, admiring it's white concreate outer walls and deep green shutters. I would contemplate the yard and imagine how much my children would love to call such a park-like scene, home. When divorce was imminent and my soon-to-be ex-husband made it clear he had no intention of leaving the marital home, the kids and I set out to find a new home for us. It was October of my first year back to full-time teaching. It was with trepidation yet determination that we set our sights on finding our new nest to house our new normal. No sooner did we begin our search that this house, the one we had admired for years, went up for sale. When we had the chance to go inside, we immediately felt at home. We still went to visit three other properties, but we all agreed that this home was for us. This level of unanimous agreement is unprecedented! We can't even agree on pizza toppings. So what was it that called us so clearly to our new home? I believe it was the familiarity that was cultivated driving by this house all those years. All those strokes on the canvas helped us to recognize it as our home when it was time for us to begin this new journey.
The availability of this house and the agreement among my children and me that it felt like home, solidified for me what I had always manipulated in my head. The basic premise is this: without us knowing, without us playing a deliberate part, if we are attuned to the events that make up our everyday life, hints are given and subtleties are provided that prepare us for the next steps we will encounter so that we can feel ready to leap when necessary. I am a firm believer in the idea that people and places are put in our path for a reason. There are absolutely no coincidences. Furthermore, I believe we are given sneak previews of those things to come, if only we pay attention. And then when it becomes necessary, our eyes are opened to a new perspective, revealing to us for the first time something we have been seeing for years.
Sometimes we lament monotony in the cycles of life, but perhaps the monotony is there so that the new things we need to encounter are not so overwhelming as to paralyze us from moving forward when they are revealed. As such, we need to pay attention and soak in all that life sends our way, during the excitement as well as the tedium. Where do you need to pay more attention? Are you missing the signs of something tremendous that is awaiting your attention? Is it time for you to take a leap that is really just a step away? If you are feeling that things are totally alien, unfamiliarly frightening, or sneaking up on you, that is a sign that you might need to pay closer attention to the monotony. What are you overlooking? What strokes have already adorned the canvas of your future? This moment, right now, will shape your future-self in such a way that you can become a better person because of it, if only you pay attention.
