My heart sank when I looked at the words on the ticket I had just been handed – OBSTRUCTED VIEW. A wonderful weekend of impromptu fun with my family in Chicago had hit its first bump. Or so I thought. My wife, son, and I had seen a great production of “West Side Story” at the Lyric Opera the night before. This morning, we were deciding whether to check out the planetarium or go to a Chicago Cubs game. When there are only three in your family, there’s never a tie. I hadn’t been to Wrigley Field since I was a kid and my son cast the deciding vote. But here I was, 30 minutes before the first pitch realizing that the tickets I had reserved just hours before were not the perfect spot I had anticipated. I even asked for an upgrade, but the man said they were sold out. The pre-game excitement was palpable and everyone around us was filing in. So we made the best of it and trudged into the security line with the rest of the Cubs faithful.
As we finally took our seats on this perfect day for baseball, I saw that “obstructed view” meant just that. And yes, I did miss a few plays at third base because of it. But I could clearly see…
- the blue sky and the white puffy clouds
- the pristine green outfield
- the players as they went about their warm-ups – tossing and catching and swinging a bat
- the smiles on the faces of my family!
We were shaded the whole game and the temperature, with the help of the famous Wrigley breezes, was perfect all day. I could also clearly see and hear people around me all having a great time. And I remembered what it felt like to be at Wrigley Field for the first time in over 40 years.
So what are you focused on?
The “obstructed view” or all the beauty and wonder that surrounds you all the time? The fact is, there’s always something obstructing our view. No one can see the future. But the only things we have any control over – how we react to the present moment – is always our choice. As I looked at the ancient stadium structure with its columns supporting the upper deck, I realized that dozens, if not hundreds, of other fans were in a similar predicament, and many worse than mine.
When one is present and really looks around with a grateful heart, serendipity often occurs. That explains how we ran into my best friend from grade school and his family as we were leaving the game. It was also his first Cubs game in over 40 years. And of course, they were sitting just 15 rows behind us the whole game!
