When We Can't See The Forest For The Trees

When you look at this photo, what do you see? Many will, at first glance, see a tree. More specifically, the single large tree at the forefront of the photo. It's there. It's clear. It's easy to see. However, if you continue to look closely, you'll notice that there's much more. Not only are there other trees a little further back, but a whole hillside sitting along a body of water, smaller branches poking out of the water on the far side, trees in the distance and a beautiful blue sky, reflection in the stillness...there's really so much more!

This same limited vision can and does show up in our everyday lives. We get entangled in the fusion and enmeshment of our relationships and can be (very naturally and predictably) blinded to the bigger picture. It can be a difficult thing to zoom out of our lives, shift our lens, consider our circumstances, and observe what bigger process is really taking place in the interactions between ourselves and others.

Not good or bad, this view is simply limiting. We are confined to the details, the content, the up close and personal of the situation. This makes sense because the people we are closest to, the ones we do life with, are the ones that we want to have that closeness with. The issue that arises and makes some of that less helpful is when we are unable to see the forest for the trees. We get so caught up in our emotions or reactivity that we simply can't see clearly what's happening in the bigger picture. The splinters taint our view of the sunrise. 

Where in your life are the trees the biggest? What areas do you struggle to zoom out and look at what's happening from an aerial view? How can you make it a practice to pause when conflict or tension show up and work to zoom out and look at what's happening from a higher position? Where is the wind blowing? How is the system moving? Where is there conflict and tension and what's behind it? How would you like to respond? How is that different from how you might normally and intrinsically react of out emotion? 

Be encouraged today. We all get lost in the trees at times and in our own families this is normal, biological even! However, we can learn to do things differently in a way that's more helpful for ourselves and our relationships. Exercise the muscle of taking a step back and making a thoughtful choice to be more congruent with who you want to be in life.