Cross+Training Day 7... Redirecting your attention

People who are amazing, with talent that far surpasses mine, with small children often say that "redirection" is a more successful than strict discipline when teaching positive behaviors. So today when I was out on my 50 minutes walk (whew, good weather day!) I decided to actively shut off my vision and redirect my attention. No, I didn't close my eyes, but if you have been in Wisconsin on a day like today, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, this is what the path you walk along might look like...

dirty snow just as it is

Beautiful, right? Not quiet. The air feels great though. In the mid-40s with the scent of a small approaching spring snow that will soon also look like the above, it does feel good to be outside.

So today, I chose to redirect my attention. I stopped looking with my eyes and started hearing the gratitudes of the day. Rushing water greeted my ears as I walked along one of Milwaukee's many beautiful parkways. An artisan fixing a historic roof pounded gently. The whistling tree branches signaled the wind of spring continues to blow (remember sublimation!) and helps bring in changing weather patterns.

As I walked I also had a great deal of time to think. I'm reading Malcolm Gladwell's latest book David and Goliath and contemplating his creative way of writing. There is a great deal of critique about his research all over the web - here's an example from Slate.com. While I can agree that the book has it's flaws, I find it inspiring to think about how parts of life that can seem so daunting are really, well, not.

Today, as I walked and though about redirection and not looking with my eyes, I contemplated taking off my glasses. Why? My vision is terrible. How terrible? When I was a freshman in high school I didn't yet have contact lenses and I was required to participate in a swimming unit of gym class. It was torture at first. I can't see a person's facial features if they are more than 3 feet away let alone distinguish similar looking individuals. Gladwell talks about how dyslexic people adapt and develop a different set of skills to succeed often in business especially sale and entrepreneurship. I wasn't the best as distinguishing by look, but I did know people well by the sound of their voice or the way they moved in the pool. So, although I am not the greatest swimmer, I had trained myself to do well at finding someone in an eyes closed game like Marco Polo. Redirection I think sometimes requires us to be creative and use our deficiencies in a positive way.

I saw God in a man who was taking a deficiency and getting out a walking too. He was grinning from ear to ear as he moved slowly with his walking sticks. His smile made me smile too.

Enjoy the day! Tonight a light blanket of snow is set to fall again and cover up the "ugly" at least for one day.