The One Thing

I had gotten some work done today, one I was especially excited about only to have it erased just minutes after. I wasn't happy about that. 

I was talking to a friend later and said shared what had happened.  My friend pointed out that prior to this, everything had been going well and something along the lines of focusing on it. And indeed, things had gone well. I had accomplished a few things in the morning and was now dealing with a minor setback. But here I was, focused on it. I thank God I made that call  because I refocused and got a lot more than today than I had planned.  In the course of the conversation, Adam and Eve came to mind. They had all these trees in the garden and the one they desired was the one tree they weren't supposed to have? 

Are we any different? Do we tend to focus on the one thing? Whether it's the one thing we don't have or the one thing that has gone awry when we have lots of things and many things have gone right, save for this one thing. 

I think I found the perfect template for this. Someone with so many gifts before them and desiring something else that's not before them. I'm glad I made that phone call because speaking to a friend reminded me of all that I had accomplished and I ended up accomplishing even much more later today in spite of setbacks and hiccups that had come up. 

We have the power to choose what we focus on. We can focus on the gifts we have been given and be grateful for them and therefore enjoy them, or we can ignore what we have and be stagnant as we think of what we don't have? And sometimes, we leave everything behind to pursue this one thing which turns out to be as elusive as catching the wind. 

This morning, I got caught in a one thing scenario. I had looked at all that had happened and I was happy with it and moments later, I decided to pursue this one thing I didn't need and could've let it be. My friend said:  to look on the bright side, "you'll learn a new skill". 

I answered: "but at what cost?"

Because in my pursuit of this one thing, I had an object come crashing down on a body part, got a cut in another part, had to drive to drive to home depot and incorporated using ice packs into my plan of care. The devil may offer temporary benefits but at what cost? 

I thank God for being by myside and I wasn't harmed. I praise God for turning my focus so that I ended up accomplishing even more later during the day. Let us savor and enjoy what we do have instead of going right after the one thing we don't have as we ignore all we do have.