Shadow Race
Posted on May 04, 2020 by Gina DeRosa, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
Are you driving with your eyes on the rearview mirror, looking at where you've been, or do you have your eyes on the road to your next destination?
(Original blog post from 2/23/2020. See all posts on Sixth Gear Series’ site.)
“Every time I’ve raced my shadow
When the sun was at my back,
It always ran ahead of me,
Always got the best of me.
But every time I’ve raced my shadow
When my face was toward the sun,
I won.”
- Poem: Shadow Race by Shel Silverstein (from A Light in the Attic)
Sometimes when driving a vehicle, we spend a few too many seconds focusing on what’s reflected in the rear-view mirror, only for something on the road in front of us to visually bring us back to where we’re going. However, it takes time to cognitively shake what was behind us and get back to focusing on the upcoming destination.
I’ve been reminiscing quite a bit this week. This past Friday was what would have been my Grandma’s 90th birthday. She passed away last January 3rd. The day before she died was my husband’s birthday, and we had plans to go out to dinner, though he kindly offered to postpone as we were all expecting her to go any time. I got home from work that night and waited for my Uncle Roger to call me from the hospital – I was in the queue of people for Grandma to say goodbye to. The call was short but incredible, an experience I cherish every day. Among the genuinely loving and grandmotherly things she said to me, and all with such concise organization and clarity she said – in the context of how much and how hard she thinks I work –
“Don’t worry.”
The subsequent instruction was to live my life, to enjoy it, and not spend all of my time working and stressing about the choices I make. Her own life was not without hardships, and while she maintained a positive and realistic attitude about life, she had had her own times of reflection throughout the years that lent themselves to grief, sorrow, or regret, and as she was leaving this Earth she wanted to give me the gift of clarity that she had earned, sparing me some of my own potential years of what-ifs.
Since that night, I’ve consciously spent far less time driving with my eyes on the proverbial rear-view mirror and more time focusing on the wide-open road ahead of me. While I inherited Grandma’s charming propensity for stubborn independence, I’m going to listen to her and let those simple instructions guide me, and help me guide others, toward an awesome life ahead.
