Living with an Obstructed View

Wouldn't you like your view to be clear? Who wants obstructions in the way when they are trying to see? It is the same in life as in windows, we want to see what we are looking for, not clutter. But what can you do when there are obstructions? Fight reality or complain? Maybe there is another choice. 

Transcript

Imagine coming up to a clearing, looking out over a pastoral scene, a valley with blue sky above, nothing blocking your view, seeing for miles into the distance. That is an unobstructed view. Better yet, picture looking out the window of an airplane when clouds are few and seeing hills, highways, trees, rivers, and lakes as far as you can see. 

Have you heard the phrase, “unobstructed view?” You might have said at some point that you just need to get an unobstructed view, meaning things were in your way so you couldn’t get a good look at what you wanted to see. The same can be said for someone who is hunting, they want an unobstructed view of their target. A surveyor needs r sightlines to record the layout of a tract of land. If we have a home, we love looking out on the neighborhood without lots of things in the way, nobody wants a window that looks out at nothing but a brick wall. 

We all want an unobstructed view, not just in physical sight. But we rarely have it. Fortunately, the mind can put together a picture with objects cluttering the view. Have you ever taken a picture of what you remembered as a beautiful scene, then when you saw the photo there were wires telephone poles, and other things blocking the way? Your mind edited those things out, or “looked around them” as if they weren’t there. It has its own photo editing software. 

There are a few people who can’t do this; a health condition prevents this wonderful consolidating of information into a larger view. If a certain part of the brain is damaged the person can see only scattered objects. For example, when looking out over a pastoral valley with blue sky, hills, highways, trees, rivers, and you can only identify one thing at a time instead of the full view. Their mind can’t process the big picture plus the details, only the pieces. 

Often life events become obstructions. We get “bogged down in the weeds” as they say and can’t get a clear picture of the whole situation. If your life is busy, you have a lot of family, a lot of commitments you probably get obstructions often. The impulse is to get rid of things that are in the way, or if we can’t just push them out, to complain about it. What we need instead is that perceptual ability to see both the forest and the trees. We need that wonderful consolidating of information into a larger view. 

Of course, some things in life are impediments, they are in the way and they can be pushed out. So, we should do our best to get rid of unhelpful habits, unhealthy relationships, and anything else that we have the option to get rid of that we truly don’t need. But much of life is living with an obstructed view. And it actually doesn’t help to complain about it. 

We can’t get rid of many people in our lives, we are committed to them, though they may drive us crazy. We can’t stop our job unless we have another means of income. We can’t move all the telephone poles and wires, literal or symbolic, that are in our view. So, it comes to acceptance. 

Acceptance is not surrender, and it is not giving up the chance to change, because, as several famous persons have said, you can’t change anything until you first accept it. And you must admit, some things and people are not going to be changed. 

Here is a favorite saying of mine: the most common thought of human beings is, “I would like something else please!” Whatever is going on in life often displeases us and we want it to be different. Our spouse should be kinder, or more assertive. Our kids should be more obedient or more independent. Government should be more liberal or more conservative. Worship should be more energetic or quieter. Today should be warmer or cooler. 

Going against reality is a sure-fire way to unhappiness. Reality always has the last say. And sometimes reality is confusing, so we need to take time to ponder it and separate out the different pieces. You need the big picture in order to step forward more confidently. Things will get confusing again, but then you must take time to separate out the different pieces again, and get the big picture.

Take a few moments and meditate on this with me. Relax, taking a few long slow breaths. Notice your body from head to toe and let go of clinching muscles. Close your eyes if it is safe to do so. Ask yourself, what are your obstructions right now? What is in the way of your life looking like that beautiful scene you would picture if you could? You may need to think about what has gotten most of your energy lately. It may be a project or a problem. If it is not finished yet, what is in the way of completion? Are those things really things that can be moved? Or do you need to “build around them?” Is a wish that things could be different causing you to deny reality? Change the things you can, including in yourself. And I pray for you the serenity to accept the things you can’t change, and the wisdom to know the difference. Consider that the full picture, with the obstacles right there in full view, may be more complete than if you could erase them.