noticing

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Say Good-bye to That Mullet

About four months ago, I wrote about how I’m not very observant. I had missed noticing that my wife had gotten a haircut while I had been away on a trip. Well, it turns out that Lily isn’t a cracker jack CSI herself when it comes to noticing someone’s haircut!

For this entire past week she didn’t notice that I had had every single hair on my head shortened. In fact, I had to tell her I got my hair cut. For me this was no big deal, it wasn’t like she didn’t notice a big blob of mustard dangling from the corner of my mouth.

Paul's mullet.001

She acted like it wasn’t a big deal either, but for some reason, me not noticing her new haircut was a big deal. She says it’s not the same thing … but it seems like EXACTLY the same thing. And our two faux pas prove a hair cut is easy to overlook.

However, some things are impossible to miss, like a child’s growth when you haven’t seen them for a few years. The first words out of your mouth are, “Wow! Have you ever grown!” You can’t help but notice something like that.

Or when you haven’t seen your high school buddy for twenty five years. He shows up at a gathering and you wonder who the new guy is, only to find out that this “new” guy with no hair, a ball cap and a good sized belly is your old school friend. When you finally recognize him, you ask yourself, “What happened to that guy?” because you undoubtedly are going to notice that kind of change.

Those changes are easy to be aware of, but how should any one be expected to notice someone’s hair that is maybe a quarter of an inch shorter and in the same style as when you left for work in the morning? That’s right! No one should have to notice something like that.

There should be a rule across the board that there has to be a certain amount of change differential for something to be worthy of being noticed. Anything less than that differential doesn’t have to receive a comment.

Now, if I had a mullet and got the “party in the back” cut off, that should be worthy of being noticed. But even if that dazzling image eluded her inspection, it wouldn’t cause me much concern.

And when Lily’s “hairdo’s” escape my scrutiny, I only have to go another four weeks or so until I get another shot at it. One thing I am glad for is that it doesn’t take her four weeks to get over my lack of observation or I’d be spending more alone time in front of the TV.

… During playoff season that’s not all that bad … Hey … !

Here’s the thing: Out of all the things we should notice in life, the most significant are what God has done and is doing. We should notice what He has created and marvel over it. We should notice the prayers He answers for us. We should notice how He wants to shape us through the circumstances in life. And we should praise Him for who He is and what He has done. God’s activity in the world and in our lives should never go unnoticed.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you have the hardest time noticing? Leave your comment below.

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If Only I Had Noticed

Some people are more observant than others, so it isn’t right that everyone should have to meet the same standards.  It’s fine for an observant person to notice that his wife had her hair cut, but there should be a grace period and hints given to the person who is not as observant.

I’m all for equality in certain circumstances.  We all should observe our surroundings and know where others are and what they’re doing, so we don’t bump into them.  But having to notice something without a comparison is completely unfair to an observant-impaired person.

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It’s like playing that concentration game where you pick up a card and then have to remember where the matching card is on the board.  An observant person wins at that game and we commend them.  We don’t get upset at the one who loses; we just feel sorry for the poor sap.

I had been away for a couple of days on a trip and when I got home, my wife Lily looked just as lovely as she did when I left.  It wasn’t until the next morning, after she had fixed her hair for the day, that she said to me, “You didn’t notice that I had my hair cut.”

In a split second, I recalled how bad a concentration player I was.  I had flashbacks of me turning up the wrong cards.  It’s not fair.  It wasn’t like Lily got a new hair style – it was the exact same hair style only a little shorter!

I told her that I thought her hair looked great, but it didn’t seem to make much difference because I hadn’t noticed on my own.  Maybe I need to get a deck of concentration cards and practice … or, maybe there’s an app for that.

When kids are little, we try to get them to distinguish between things that are different. On Sesame Street, kids learn “one of these things is not like the other…”  But in this case, Lily’s hair looked the same.

Now, Lily is a teacher at heart.  So I think she wanted to help me out, give me another try.  Well, at least I think that’s what she was trying to do when she said “come and look in the pantry and tell me if you notice anything different there.”

The problem was, she didn’t give me any more clues than that!  When I go to the pantry there are only two shelves I look at – they’re the ones that have the snack food on them that I would be interested in eating.

Suddenly, I was looking at items on shelves I didn’t know we had in the pantry!  “It could be anything”, I thought.  So I just said, “Wow!  This looks fantastic.  You’ve done a lovely job.”  Somehow she saw right through that, and gave me another failing grade.

I think non-observants should be marked on the curve.  We should be held to a lower standard.  But, in reality it’s not going to happen, so I just better try to be more observant.

Here’s the thing: I might not notice when God wants to show me something, and I could  use the excuse, “I’m not that observant.”  But, I’m the one who misses out.  What I need to do is pay more attention to God so I notice what He wants me to see.

That’s life!

Paul

Question: How do you keep yourself observant to what God wants to show you? Leave your comment below.