Day 855

After a couple of hours of loving people at Mercy Hospital, Ranger is exhausted! He loves every minute, but needs a nap when he returns home. Sweet Boy…

We saw volumes of individuals and groups on our rounds this morning. Many simply wanted to touch that Golden fur, but some needed to connect on a deeper level. It occurred to me that there are times in our lives when our focus takes on the world around us and other times when we are targeted in on only one thing.

People with loved ones in surgery, the heart floor, ICU and other critical spaces, are laser focused on their loved ones. The bigger picture is out of focus and concentration is centered on that bed. We see so much of that and our connections with those loved ones are often heartfelt.

There have been times, in everyone’s life, when the world around us is out of focus as we fixate on that one thing. It can be a person, a project, a relationship or any other occurrence that needs our utmost concentration and commitment. Looking at some of these examples, as Ranger and I walked around, something profound occurred to me. While they were completely tuned into their loved one’s journey, nothing else really mattered. The world continued to spin, their jobs took a hiatus and those things they had previously deemed essential were not really that important.

Like the loved ones who were center stage today, we all have a few non-negotiables when it comes to our lives. Count those blessings and cherish them as you hold them close. The rest is superfluous…take time to prioritize the first and remember the latter doesn’t really matter in the great scheme of life.