Lost In the Details

I have heard it said we miss the forest for the trees. So I ask you (and myself)… Do the details of the bigger picture really matter?

We’ve all been there where we have felt a little lost in the details, the little things… I know I have. You see the vastness of the forest and get more concerned with the details instead of seeing the bigger picture. Maybe the path is not marked out clearly. Maybe you have to cut through some overhanging or fallen branches. And you just don’t really know how to get to your destination. The trees are so vast and so plentiful, they tend to block the majority of the sunlight.

I am a lover of trees… I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love trees. The different species and the variations of them. Each one offering a different shade of light. The branches and leaves that catch your eye to a point of stopping and just admiring… the little things.

What really makes the forest a forest? How can you miss the forest by focusing on the trees? Aren’t the trees the forest themselves? Is it really the big picture or is it the little things, the details, that matter most?

I think the opposite of the statement is true… We miss the trees for the forest. We miss all of the little things that mean something because we’re so focused on the something more. Don’t get me wrong, you should never lose sight of the big picture… But if we forget to see what is directly ahead of us, we tend to lose the meaning of the bigger picture…

I’ve been dating a wonderful man for over a month now and I can say that the little things matter. He makes my heart happy… He makes me smile multiple times a day with the little texts or the phone calls, especially in the morning while I’m trying to get ready for work… It’s the times he shows up when I’m not really feeling my best, but he shows up anyway. It’s when he tells me I’m beautiful and valued and lets me be me… Those are things that matter.

Have I lost sight of the big picture? No. But the big picture is just that, something that will come about in time. And I’m all about living life in the moment and enjoying every moment that presents itself. So if the turning of the leaves and the rays of beautiful sunshine that break through the overhang is what this life affords me, I am so willing to see the trees for the forest… And I am thankful that I have someone to get lost in the details with.