I was having this conversation with a friend the other day about my younger years and the things I would do as a teenager. One thing that stands out in my mind was the way I interacted with people...bold, without fear, loving the excitement of meeting new people, doing the unexpected, not caring if people thought I was silly...I found ways to become someone's foreground and to bring them into mine.
Think about what happens when you walk from your house to your car in the morning. Are you thinking about where you are going, work, what you will be doing that day? Imagine the background that you do not pay attention to? Have you ever brought those things into the foreground instead of leaving them in the background? Think about the sounds, the smells, the things you might see if you really paid attention and experienced the background....making it foreground
But what is most important in this life? I believe it is people and our relationships with them! When you are at a baseball game, do you pay attention to the 40 something year old man, slightly graying, wearing red like everyone else...or the 50 year old woman with a little too much around the middle? Have you ever really LOOKED at these people...wondered about their lives...thought about the gifts that they bring to someone else's lives...considered that they might be heros or loners or creative thinkers or geniouses or former athletes or veterens...moms and dads, grandparents, sisters, brothers...etc? Do you pay attention to the hundreds of people you come in contact with, although indirectly, on a daily basis? What about the driver in the car next to you on your way to work? Or the construction worker that you pass holding the sign allowing you to go or telling you to stop?
What would happen if you made any one of these people part of your foreground instead of your background? Could you change the course of their lives? What if you smiled at the person in the car next to you? Sure, they might make assumptions about your intentions, but what if they were contemplating suicide or simply had a bad day? Would your smile make them change their focus? Would they go home in a better mood and spend some quality time with their children? Maybe they work a little harder to be a better person. You would be the pebble that fell into their still waters...creating ripples in their lives that would then affect others in a positive way.
