When walking along a path, what makes a person trip is what they do not expect that lies ahead. When they lose sight of their surroundings, chances are high that they will trip. Part of losing sight is due at times to overconfidence and other times to blindly not paying attention. When we give our focus intensely on a thing, it by default blurs everything else around it. In a sense, focus is good because it allows us to concentrate on a thing. However, we must continually check on our surroundings to be sure the path we are following is the right one.

If the path is straight for a while, we may think it continues straight forward. With our noses buried in something, we may keep walking straight when the path we are on turns sharply in another direction. Think of a family where the father is the sole income earner for the household. Everything may be going fine for a while. But somewhere along the way, if he is not careful, the duty he is performing to serve his family may actually cause a disturbance if he takes it too far. He must continually monitor his family to make sure that they are healthy – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Too many fathers have devoted themselves to earning money but unknowingly sacrifice their relationships with family.

Another stumbling block may be unforeseen obstacles that block the path. We can walk right into them. By losing focus on our surroundings, we are not ready to take this kind of trip. It sends us spiraling downward until there is a hard crash, with us at the bottom. I have known many people who thought their jobs were at risk, yet did nothing about it. Many are too timid to speak with their managers about such things, afraid they will lose their jobs. They might be content working there and therefore do not go looking for an alternate way of earning income. If the day of separation ever does come, they would find themselves devastated and without a plan.

Many trips like these could be canceled just by being aware of our surroundings. So many troubles get us because we were not better prepared. However, if you put diligence into your plan, the odds are you will be better equipped to handle what comes after the next turn in life.