When I ran high school cross country, I brought up the rear. Not unimportant since a team needed five members, and I essentially made the team a team. Increasingly, though, I found myself regularly in the middle of the pack. I attribute this largely to a teacher at our school who attended most of our meets. I still remember her voice telling me, “Head up, look forward.”
This advice, which began as a way to correct my poor running form, now exists as a core principle guiding my life. It connects with an essential part of my faith to help keep me focused on living my values and not getting in my own way.
“Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.” (Proverbs 4:25-27)
This world will distract you if you do nothing to stop it. It’s so easy to get lost and not even know it’s happening. Doing nothing means getting sidetracked and following evil. It means finding yourself on a path made unsafe by self-focus and comparison.
Looking straight ahead – choosing to fix your eyes – leads to stable steps and forward progress through small steps that add up over time to make a big difference. Focusing forward keeps you from wandering into the brush and getting lost.
So often, the small lessons we learn in the most simple ways are the ones that lead us to the truth that can keep us on the safe path.
