In, Out, and Up

What’s a girl to do…

…when a good friend is hospitalized with serious, potentially permanent internal injuries, and the cause could be someone else’s negligence?

…when a family member falters, crumbles, rallies, and continues struggling, unable to regain normalcy?

…when a chronic irritation reaches almost-unbearable proportions, and panic sweeps in like a tidal wave?

I asked myself these questions in light of yesterday’s circumstances.  I also told myself the answer:  REFOCUS.

Some years ago I spent an entire weekend, all day Saturday and into the night and then much of Sunday as well, working on the computer.  By Monday my eyes were stingy and sore, and functionally jumpy, and I feared something terrible had gone wrong.  I didn’t immediately make the correlation with the computer work.

My optometrist explained that I’d overworked my eyes and literally dried out the corneas to desert-crack stage (evidently it is common to blink less often when focused on a computer screen).  He suggested in the future I remember to blink intentionally in such instances, but also to stop periodically and focus on something outside in the far distance for 5-or-10 minute increments.  “Looking distantly will rest your eyes,” he said.  “Then you will be able to go back to intense close work and ultimately keep working longer.”

I’ve learned this is true in the spiritual realm as well as the physical.  My soul’s eyes can grow weary from focusing on current situations, especially when issues seem deeply concerning and compounding.  An upward, far look does not deny the necessity of responding to the immediate, but renews a right perspective in the midst of trials.

I have proven this to myself over and over again.   How often during my daily walk I visually study the treetops or the clouds, audibly praise the Father with a soft-spoken but clear voice, and focus away from circumstances toward Him.  Then at the end of my walk I am more able to confront those issues that may have seemed overwhelming just minutes before.

The moral?  When the IN-ward landscape seems difficult to navigate and OUT-ward  focus blurs,  it is critical to reset sights UP-ward.