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I recently was on vacation to Australia and New Zealand. It was a last minute trip – something I’ve never done before, and something I definitely didn’t imagine doing at this stage in my life. My wife, the amazing blessing that she is, suggested me joining her brother on a portion of his trip to those countries. Yeah, I got to go for a trip to a country without the kids to join her brother for a little over a week!
It was a great trip – I didn’t have to pack diapers (although wipes would’ve been a good idea – they are just so handy!), strollers, carseats, or any of the annoying parts about traveling with children (I enjoy traveling with my kids – they have done it enough and are for the most part fun to be on a plane with).
We saw some beautiful sites – seemingly getting more and more breathtaking as we went. New Zealand was without a doubt the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. We did some small hikes and one big one (it was a last minute trip, so I didn’t have as much time to not get my body ready), but so very worth it.
It was an incredible opportunity to go and take in so much of God’s creation. The beauty that He has put together over time is astounding – to sit and just be in it is something I hope to do again.
And then I started thinking about how many people do what we were doing: travel the world, or the country, or wherever – to enjoy the beauty of nature. So many people make trips – whether day trips, week trips, or months or years, to go to landmarks and sites all over the world to see what the world has to offer. But there is beauty to be found on every continent and in every country. In every state, city and town there is beauty to be found. We just don’t pay attention – we allow ourselves to get distracted by all the other things. We’d rather look on Instagram for faraway places, because we take for granted the bits of beauty around us.
Now do we need to sit in awe every time we pass by the same hill? Of course not. But if we’re constantly looking elsewhere for beauty, we will never be satisfied.
The same goes for people. Human beings are a beautiful creation. We are the most beautiful of God’s creations. But, as we do with nature, we only make time for people when it pleases us, and the rest of the time we take them for granted.
We are creatures in need – needing to be accepted, to be wanted to be desired. To be noticed. Yet we walk by people all the time – whether in the hallways of our school, offices, in lines at the store, or passing by on the street. Do we look at them? Do we acknowledge them? If we do, most often we see what we like about them and grow jealous. Or we see what we don’t like and we look down in judgment.
On my trip, I tried to be intentional about looking at everyone I passed by, smiling, and maybe saying “hi.” All too often I was ignored. While I was with my brother, it didn’t bother me much, other than wondering why people just ignored each other (which I know I do in my ‘normal’ life too). But there were some parts of the trip when I was on my own, and when I was not looked at at all, when I was ignored or avoided, I felt lonely. I’ll be upfront with you: I got a little depressed at those times. Even though I knew I have so many people who care and love for me, in those moments I felt alone. And what made it worse was that I didn’t have any service on my phone when I walked around, so I couldn’t try to contact anyone unless I found a place with free Wifi. I can’t tell you how many times I pulled my phone out of my pocket, only to remember I couldn’t use it for anything but taking pictures.
No wonder so many people walk around looking at their phones and not at the people around them – they’ve been ignored and feel like they go unnoticed, so they go to the thing where they can always feel connected, always feel seen.
I challenge you – and myself as well – to pull your eyes away from your phone as you walk around. Notice the people around you (and try to do so without jealousy or judgment). You don’t need to stop and have a conversation with everyone you see, but kind eyes and a smile can go a long way to making people feel a little less alone in this great beautiful world.
Love this one, Baby! A great message and a great reminder for all of us. I love you…