Tunnel Vision

It is easy to get caught up in the pace of life and not see around you. Tunnel vision is so prevalent, it makes you think it is some kind of disease. And if there is one sign of tunnel vision, it is the cell phone. I agree that the cell phone has made the process of living easy and sometimes it has saved a life. But, it has also become an appendage which encourages tunnel vision.

You'll see people driving while talking on their cell, run a red light or almost hit a pedestrian. It seems when talking while holding a cell it is harder to turn that corner...staying in your own lane is a challenge. Having a blue tooth or hand less cell phone does not help tunnel vision...instead you still have tunnel vision but you look crazy. Take downtown San Francisco, you barely can tell who is crazy and who is not because everyone is talking, walking and swinging their arms around.

When ever I see someone rushing around with a cell phone plastered to their head I remember the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. He is late, late for a very important date...oh me, oh my...I'm late, I'm late, I'm late. Imagine if he was holding a cell phone instead of a watch. He'd be so 21st century!

I rarely suffer from Tunnel Vision because life is just too fascinating and I don't want to miss a moment. I have met some incredible people and done some exciting things because I don't have tunnel vision.

So the story goes that yesterday at work a dear friend, yells, "come here!"...I never pass up an excited "come here!" I stick my head out the door, look down the long hallway and framed in the doorway is the most spectacular sunrise. I mean...I am talking the kind that does not exist in a color crayon box. I walk towards the door, press my face against the glass and gaze in wonder. The other thing that caught my eye was one of our doctors rushing to the doorway, lab coat flapping, talking rapidly into his cell phone....oblivious to the miracle behind him....Tunnel Vision.

It is our duty...a requirement of living...that if you do not suffer from tunnel vision, you must be a mentor to those who do. The only way we can stay connected and survive the hard times ahead is to provide a view point that shares goodness, beauty and peace. So I yelled at the doctor, "hey stop...look behind you!" He turned and his whole face lit up....tunnel vision arrested.