Look Up and See

The other night I was driving home jamming out to the radio. A catchy song came on and I started singing along. In the lyrics, it talked about wishing on a falling star. It reminded me in my younger days I was always seeing falling stars and making a wish. As I thought about it, I realized I haven’t seen a shooting star in years. I wondered, is it like global warming and the galaxy has changed and there are no longer falling stars? Then it hit me. The answer is simple. I don’t look for them anymore. It is even worse than that, I don’t even look up at the sky much anymore. I am busy and have things to do and I spend much of my life mentally checking off my do list and moving on to whatever is next!

In ancient civilizations looking at the sky was everything. It was how they navigated, how they told time, and how they knew when to plant crops. According to the site Astronomy Rookie, “The positions of one named constellation relative to another might unfold to a story of a battle between two great gods, or between a hero and a beast, or tell a tale of a partnership between a male and female deity.”

These stories bonded people together in their tribes, and being part of a tribe increased survival odds because your tribe will:

• Fight for you when you are in danger
• Feed you when you are starving
• Nurse you when you are sick or injured
• Find you when you are lost

The constellations gave our ancestors survival mechanisms and an opportunity to tell stories that would bond them together and therefore survive better. Our ancient ancestors could not imagine living in a world where you took the sky for granted.

Seeing the Big Picture

You may be asking; how does this apply to leadership?  My thought is if something important can be as big as the sky and as dazzling as the stars and we can still ignore it then we probably ignore many small things that need to be addressed.  We are so fixated on our own task and slice of the world that we can’t even look at the big picture.

What are you ignoring on your own team or at home because we are so focused on your own needs? Is it a facility in a bad state of repair, is it broken or strained relationship, or is it a limping team that needs to be energized? Take off the “busy” goggles and truly look at life. You might be like me and almost gasp in wonder when you look at the sky for the first time in a while. What you might see are opportunities for growth and change.

Behold the Beauty

I hope tonight you put down your smartphone, turn off the TV or laptop, tear up the to do list and spend 10 minutes looking up at the sky. Enjoy the majesty, savor the beauty, and try to be more observant as a traveler in the world.  Your neighbors might think you are crazy, but just tell them you are looking for Santa. That’s the view from where we sit.