If only we could be that focused:

My youngest son has a bit of a competitive nature.

Okay, who am I kidding? That’s like saying the Grand Canyon is a small flaw in the Earth’s crust.

Anyway, last week he was playing at a friend’s so we stopped by after picking up his brother from baseball practice to tell him to scoot on home. He needed to wash up for dinner. He’d had a hard day battling it out with the dirt on the mountain at Cub Scout camp and by looking at him, one could be fairly sure that the mountain had won.

With a blaze of youthful energy (how after two full days at Cub Country?), he sped off on his bike hollering over his shoulder, “I’ll beat you home!”

As he made his way around the corner of Glider onto 17^th and was about to head off on to Cameo, I decided that I’d go straight and then turn onto Richard backing in on Cameo since my son liked to gain an edge by darting out in front of me. It’s good to know that he trusts me and knows I’d never run him over in a battle to the finish line but it still, nonetheless, makes me rather nervous.

When I was almost to the corner of Richard, I looked back and to my horror, my son was a hundred or so yards back in the middle of the road pedaling as fast as he possibly could cars coming straight at him. I watched with a prayer in my heart as they swerved to avoid hitting him.

When he got home, I laid into him verbally for his carelessness as he tried to win the race. His response?

“I didn’t care about winning, Mom. I knew I couldn’t since you were so far ahead but as long as I can see you, I know I’ll be alright. I didn’t even see the other cars – only yours.”

I still had to lecture him on bicycle safety but I also thanked him for keeping his focus on staying with his family.

Later that night, I thought about the lesson my son had taught me; if we could all be so focused that we kept our eye singular to our parents’ heavenly domain, so much so that we didn’t see the danger trying to sideswipe us, how much better would we be and how much brighter would this world seem on a day to day basis?

I’m still trying to figure that one out but I can say this; it’s made me quit thinking about winning the race so much and focus more on my destination.