N: Nearsighted

N is for Nearsighted. I am nearsighted. I wear glasses and because some eye doctor long ago told me that I have an astigmatism, I've never worn contacts. It's a nuisance. I'd love to have Lasik, and plan to someday, but for now, I wear my glasses when I want to see things. And it works! I put on my glasses and I can see clearly all those distant sights that were so blurry just seconds before. This post isn't about eyesight though. It's about being nearsighted in life. Sometimes it's too easy to focus on what's right in front of us and get distracted from the better, more important future.

Nicole really wants a horse. I mean she REALLY wants a horse. She has saved every penny she's ever earned or been gifted and now has the funds to pay for half a horse. The problem is, the other half will be financed by Mom and Dad, but conditionally. Before we will give the okay for her big purchase, she has to show that she is really ready to be mature and responsible with horse ownership. We're getting closer to an actual realistic date so to help her out with this I made a sign recently:
The arrow moves up and down depending on, well, lots of things. I KNOW she wants this. But the arrow just kind of hangs around the middle. It's a little depressing to me. Frankly, it won't matter to me one bit if the horse doesn't happen for several years. But it breaks my heart to see her giving up on her goal because it's not fun to clean her room or practice the piano. She's certainly not alone. How many chores and projects and piles do I have that get put off and put off because it's just not fun NOW. I need to do better and hopefully by my example and help, all of my kids can learn that deferred gratification--a concept pretty foreign to their generation--is really the only way to reach their goals. And the goals I am most worried about are FAR more important than a horse. I wish we had a pair of glasses that we could slip on and bring those big goals right into focus again anytime we lose sight of the prize. But I guess if it were easy, everyone would do it, right?