Is it Time to Climb? The Value of a 30,000 Foot View

I’m going to spend time at 30,000 feet this week.  Although I don’t like the hassle of flying, I do like the view.   Identifying landmarks makes me feel like a little kid on a road trip trying to find things that start with the letters of the alphabet. Q and X were killers.

Stuck in a rut.  Getting down in the weeds.  Can’t see the forest for the trees. These phrases describe getting so involved in the details that we lose the big picture.  While details are important because that is where the devil lives, it is good to gain an elevated view.  For me, it seems that a 30,000 foot view helps me figure out what small stuff is worth the sweat. When I’m down in the muck, I can’t always figure that out and waste a lot of energy on silly things.

Here’s what I notice about my view from 30,000 feet:

The important things become a lot more clear.  Family. Health. People. Passion for what I do.

I see connections better than I do on the ground.  Dot-connecting is a lot easier for me from above.

I feel insignificant and that is a good thing. Sometimes I get an overinflated sense of my purpose which usually only stresses me out.

The future looks brighter.  It’s always a clear view at 30,000 feet.

Storms are below or behind me. I can coast.

Staying at 30,000 feet for very long is unhealthy.  I need to get unstuck from the rut.  The weeds are where the treasure hides. I need to bang around from tree to tree in the forest because that’s where the work gets done.

It just really does me good to climb up occasionally and get a different view.